Matthew Dicks

Matthew Dicks is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, Something Missing, Unexpectedly, Milo, The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs, Twenty-one Truths About Love, and The Other Mother, as well as the nonfiction titles Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling and Someday Is Today: 22 Simple, Actionable Ways to Propel Your Creative Life.

His books have been translated into more than 25 languages worldwide.

He is also the author of the rock opera The Clowns and the musicals Caught in the Middle, Sticks & Stones, and Summertime. He has written comic books for Double Take comics. He is the humor columnist for Seasons magazine and an advice columnist for Slate magazine.

The Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists awarded him first prize in opinion/humor writing in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

When not hunched over a computer screen, Matthew fills his days as an elementary school teacher, a storyteller, a speaking coach, a blogger, a wedding DJ, a minister, a life coach, and a Lord of Sealand. He has been teaching for 24 years and is a former West Hartford Teacher of the Year and a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.

Matthew is a record 59-time Moth StorySLAM champion and 9-time GrandSLAM champion whose stories have been featured on their nationally syndicated Moth Radio Hour and their weekly podcast. One of his stories has also appeared on PBS’s Stories From the Stage.

Matthew is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of Speak Up, a Hartford-based storytelling organization that produces shows throughout New England. He is the CEO of Storyworthy, where he teaches storytelling and public speaking to individuals, corporations, universities, religious institutions, and school districts around the world.

Matthew has worked on storytelling, speech writing, branding, advertising, and marketing for companies like Slack, Johnson & Johnson, Saatchi & Saatchi, MetLife, Pfizer, Amazon, Microsoft, Rustic Pathways, and many more.

Matthew is the creator, producer, and co-host of Speak Up Storytelling, a podcast that teaches people to tell their best stories.

Matthew is married to friend and fellow teacher, Elysha, and they have two children, Clara and Charlie. He grew up in the small town of Blackstone, Massachusetts, where he made a name for himself by dying twice before the age of eighteen and becoming the first student in his high school to be suspended for inciting riot upon himself.