Last night, Mathew Goldberg celebrated the release of his award-winning debut collection of short stories, Night Watch, with a release party at Two Friends Bookstore + Cafe in Bentonville, Arkansas. I hope it’s the first of many occasions for Mathew to celebrate this accomplishment. With his book hot off the presses, I wanted to deviate from my usual Friday Five routine to squeeze in a bonus question-and-answer session with this talented writer while this collection is brand new.
Mathew is an associate teaching professor of English at my former employer, Missouri University of Science and Technology, and he was kind enough to send me a galley proof of the book. I can tell you that it’s brilliant and well worth the read. It’s no surprise the collection won the 2025 Spokane Prize for Short Fiction from Willow Springs Books, the publisher of Night Watch.
At Missouri S&T, Mathew teaches creative writing, composition, American literature, and detective fiction. To readers familiar with S&T’s focus on STEM education, Mathew’s duties may sound a bit fish-out-of-water, but his background — he holds a biomedical and electrical engineering degree from Duke as well as an MFA from Arkansas — gives him unusual insights into many of the students in his courses. (There are, of course, English and humanities students at S&T, and no doubt they too are keen to learn from this talented writer and academic.)
Many of the stories in Night Watch first found purchase in magazines like The Atlantic and Shenandoah. His fiction also has earned Pushcart Prize nods and semifinalist spots in contests like the Iron Horse Literary Review Book Prize.
Read on to learn more about Mathew’s perspective on the writing craft, teaching at a STEM-focused university, and advice to his fellow writers. And once you’re done reading, make plans to pick up a copy of Night Watch as soon as you can. (For readers from the St. Louis area, you might want to make plans to catch Mathew’s reading and book signing next month at Left Bank Books in St. Louis. Can’t make it in person? No worries. Left Bank plans to stream the presentation over its YouTube channel.)
1. Tell us about one story in the collection that hit you hardest while writing it, and what sparked that story?
“Teshuvah” definitely hit me the hardest. I tried to be judicious in handling the material since anything done to children is so egregious. It may be that I was exploring my biggest fear; as a father to a young child, I’ve never felt so vulnerable as sending my son out into the world. The story also came from a debate years ago in the Washington D.C. area (my hometown) where a synagogue argued over whether to admit a recently released offender into their congregation. The wounded rabbit, unfortunately, was something I experienced.
2. You’ve got an engineering background from Duke. How does that analytical mindset sneak into your fiction, and do you ever catch it sparring with (or fueling) your creative side?
Writing is a craft like any other. I’m not someone who gets hit with flashes of inspiration, but someone who sits down and works, facing the screen for a set amount of time even if nothing comes from the session. This method of working comes from my engineering background when I had to sit and work through circuit diagrams or program code. I do love the written word, which is why I switched from engineering to English.
I think there’s a way to solve a story — to find the place where it clicks. I don’t like planning beforehand; I like being surprised where a story can go. That’s the joy and excitement for me. For instance, the narrator in “Entropy” has to betray his favorite teacher. I didn’t plan for this happen. It’s the sad, necessary payoff, and I think my analytical mindset comes into play here.
3. Teaching creative writing at a STEM-focused school like Missouri S&T sounds like it could be a challenge. What’s the biggest surprise you’ve found in getting engineers and scientists to spin yarns?
In fact, it’s not a challenge at all. S&T students are naturally creative, and many of them enter my creative writing classes with large writing projects in mind. I think the imaginative element of gaming and design contributes to this. What I have to coach them on is setting aside world-building and plot for character development. The best books in a genre have the strongest, most memorable characters.
4. Your stories have landed in big spots like The Atlantic. Who or what has shaped your writing philosophy most, and how did that guide Night Watch?
The publications are extremely gratifying, but I’ve learned you can’t control or predict where your work will land. You steel yourself for rejection. My first published story was rejected sixty times before finding a home.
My biggest influences came from Arkansas’ MFA program where I worked with Skip Hays, Molly Giles, and Ellen Gilchrist, and I met so many of my best readers, including my wife.
My love for reading definitely affects my writing. I read about a book a week. Some of my favorite writers are Tim O’Brien, John Banville, Marilynne Robinson, John Le Carre, and Elmore Leonard. I’m inspired by wonderful imagery, deep subtext, and characters I can’t leave behind.
5. For writers chasing their own Night Watch moment, what’s one piece of advice you’d give — especially for those juggling day jobs?
I worked in industry for five years between college and grad school, writing nights and weekends. It’s not easy finding the time and energy to stare at a screen after work. MFA programs give you time, space, and encouragement to write, so I’m grateful for that. Now, I make every excuse not to sit down and stare at a blank screen.
Having a set time to write (even an hour to two) where you turn off the internet, silence your phone, and shut down your inner critic is the best gift you can give yourself.
- Read some of Mathew Goldberg’s writing here.
- Listen to this radio interview with Mathew about his new book.
Andy writes! 