Matt Coonan is a poet, emcee & teacher from New York. He holds an MFA in creative writing and literature from Stony Brook University and is a three-time SUNY Oneonta Grand Slam Champion. He is also the recipient of a 2017 Live Mas Scholarship. He is the author of Toy Gun (Button Poetry, 2023), as well as two chapbooks. His poems have been featured on Button Poetry and published in Tinderbox Poetry Journal, The Southampton Review, Inklette, among others.

Matt is also a vocalist in the improvisational jazz band Bright Dog Red. Their eighth studio album, Never Would We, released October 17th, 2025 from Ropeadope Records.