{{Short description|American novelist and short story writer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2014}}
thumb|Lou Mathews '''Lou Mathews''' is an American writer, novelist, journalist, playwright and short story writer based in Los Angeles. He was born in Glendale, California, earned his B.A. degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1973, and his M.F.A. from Vermont College in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/mathews-lou-1946 |title=Mathews, Lou 1946– (Contemporary Writers) |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2009 |publisher=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=December 6, 2016}}</ref> His novel, ''L.A. Breakdown'' (1999), was noted by the ''Los Angeles Times'' as a "Best Book" of 1999.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lou Mathews, "The Garlic Eater" failbetter.com|url=http://www.failbetter.com/19/MathewsGarlicEater.php|access-date=2021-09-14|website=www.failbetter.com}}</ref> ''L.A. Breakdown'' is a novel describing the street racing scene in Los Angeles circa 1967.<ref>{{Cite book|isbn = 0947993800|title = L.A. Breakdown|last1 = Mathews|first1 = Lou|year = 1999}}</ref> His novel ''Shaky Town<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mathews|first=Lou|title=Shaky town : a novel|date=2021|isbn=978-1-7353038-0-2|location=[United States]|oclc=1263185175}}</ref>'' was published in 2021. His novel ''Hollywoodski''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hollywoodski |url=https://www.tigervanbooks.com/hollywoodski-lou-mathews |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=Tiger Van Books |language=en-US}}</ref> was published in 2025.
==Fiction== His short stories have been published in and appeared in anthologies such as ''The Pushcart Prize XV'', ''The Pushcart Prize Anthology'', ''The Best of the Pushcart Prize'', ''L.A. Shorts'', ''Love Stories for the Rest of Us'' and ''The Gotham Writers' Workshop Fiction''.<ref>''supra'', n.1</ref>
==Nonfiction and Journalism== His nonfiction has appeared in the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The L.A. Reader'', ''L.A. Weekly'', ''Mother Jones'', ''Tin House'' and ''L.A. Style''. For eight years at ''L.A. Style'', Mathews was a contributing editor and also a restaurant reviewer. He currently teaches fiction writing and literature at the UCLA Extension Writer's Program, where he was named "Teacher of the Year" in 2002.<ref>''Id.''</ref>
==Short Plays & Films== Among the short plays that he has written and that have been produced include ''Rancho Alisos'', ''A Curse on Chavez Ravine'', ''You Did Some Good Work Once'', ''Jaws of Life'' and a radio play, ''Captain Manners''.<ref>''Id.''</ref> ''The Duke's Development'', his first full-length play, was a second prize winner in the 2000 National Repertory Theatre Foundations National Playwriting Contest.
A short film directed by Dora Pena based on one of his short stories, ''Crazy Life'' premiered at the Barcelona Film Festival.<ref>{{Citation|title=Crazy Life (Video 2005) - IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1521735/|language=en-US|access-date=2021-09-14}}</ref>
==Awards== He has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, a California Arts Council Fiction Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and a Katherine Anne Porter Prize.<ref>[http://writers.uclaextension.edu/instructors/lou-mathews/ Lou Mathews, UCLA Extension Writers' Program Biography]</ref> Lou Mathews is one of eight recipients of the UCLA Extension Distinguished Instructor Award.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-12-12|title=Top Teachers Honored at 2018 Distinguished Instructor Awards – For Our Instructors|url=https://instructor.uclaextension.edu/top-teachers-honored-at-2018-distinguished-instructor-awards/|access-date=2021-09-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212034445/https://instructor.uclaextension.edu/top-teachers-honored-at-2018-distinguished-instructor-awards/|archive-date=December 12, 2019}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100702120737/http://www2.uclaextension.edu/writers/instructors.php?recordID=166 Lou Mathews Biography, UCLA Writer's Program] *[http://www.failbetter.com/19/MathewsGarlicEater.php "Garlic Eater" by Lou Mathews, at failbetter.com] *[https://www.amazon.com/Breakdown-Great-American-first-novels/dp/0947993800 ''L.A. Breakdown'' by Lou Mathews at Amazon] *[https://www.tigervanbooks.com/shaky-town ''Shaky Town'' at Tiger Van Books] *[https://www.nereview.com/2021/08/09/unsuitable-for-literature-an-exchange-with-ner-author-lou-mathews/ ''New England Review'' interview with Lou Mathews] *[https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/ct-ent-biblioracle-tiger-van-books-shaky-town-20210901-afc2cu5x25h7pfavoqyupufky4-story.html ''Chicago Tribune'', Author and TV showrunner Jim Gavin started a publishing company that so far has published a single book: 'Shaky Town'] *[https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/how-to-tie-a-collection-of-short-stories-together-in-a-cohesive-book ''Writer's Digest'', How to Tie a Collection of Short Stories Together in a Cohesive Book] *[https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2025-01-17/lou-mathews-author-hollywoodski-screenwriter-dale-davis ''L.A. Times'' Forty years and counting, Lou Mathews knows a tale or two about ‘Hollywoodski’]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Lou}} Category:20th-century American novelists Category:American male novelists Category:Novelists from Los Angeles Category:Living people Category:20th-century American male writers Category:Year of birth missing (living people)