Matthew Hodson

Matthew is a writer and illustrator based in Leeds, UK. Growing up in the rural north of England, he is happiest exploring ancient woods and open moorland looking for nothing and thinking out loud. He is the father of two boys, a lecturer at Leeds Arts University and a keen (slow) runner.

Employing naive and expressive line work, bold compositions and playful graphic forms, Matthew wants to make work that feels immediate, irreverent and sincere. He likes drawings that happen, ideas that emerge and accidents that look nice.

His writing works as an extension of his sketchbook, where observation from his day to day takes shape through a playful and nonsensical approach. He is interested in the performative nature of drawing and writing and is always seeking to capture the moment of free play present in his notebooks.

With over 15 years’ experience as an illustrator he has worked across editorial, advertising, animation and beyond for clients including The Guardian, The New York Times and The Economist. He has predominantly been working within children’s publishing since 2020 across activity, poetry and picture books. His poetry collection Forwards Always was shortlisted for the AOI World Illustration Awards and his recent picture book At This Very Moment was nominated for the Society of Authors’ Queen’s Knickers Award.