Matt Cardin

Matt Cardin is a writer, editor, and independent scholar whose work explores the meeting point of creativity, spirituality, and the numinous unknown. He is the author of Writing at the Wellspring: Tapping the Source of Your Inner Genius, a contemplative guide to writing as a spiritual practice and overcoming creative resistance.

His earlier books—To Rouse Leviathan, What the Daemon Said, and the edited volume Born to Fear: Interviews with Thomas Ligotti—blend horror, religion, and art to illuminate the mystery of existence. His fiction and essays have been praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and others, and have been nominated for the World Fantasy Award and long-listed for the Bram Stoker Award.

A college vice president and former professor of English and religion, Cardin holds a Ph.D. in leadership and an M.A. in religious studies. He writes the online newsletter The Living Dark, about creativity and life purpose at the intersection of nonduality, mindfulness, and the daemon muse. A lifelong pianist and native of the Missouri Ozarks, he lives in North Arkansas with his wife.