Matthew Pearl

Matthew Pearl graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude in English and American Literature in 1997. Soon after, he won the prestigious Dante Prize from the Dante Society of America for his scholarly work. Pearl wrote the first draft of The Dante Club while attending Yale Law School, where he received his JD in 2000.

Pearl has served as a Teaching Fellow for Harvard literature courses and a creative writing tutor, and currently teaches as an adjunct professor at Emerson College. The New York Times best-selling The Dante Club is his first novel and was translated into over 30 languages around the world. His second historical thriller is the New York Times bestseller The Poe Shadow.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution groups Pearl with Jonathan Franzen and Richard Powers as having added to "the growing genre of novel being written nowadays -- the learned, challenging kind that does not condescend." Library Journal says "Pearl has proven himself a master." Details magazine names Pearl as one of 2003's “Next Big Things” and Boston magazine places him on their annual Hot List.