Poet David Matthews returns to Yellow Springs
- Published: September 26, 2025
Poet David Matthews (Submitted photo)
Though David Matthews is well-known around the Miami Valley — particularly in his hometown of Dayton — as both a musician with Big Gil and His Funky Allstars and a writer and performer of poetry, it’s been some years since he’s performed at Antioch College.
“My last performance at Antioch was in 1974 when I opened for the legendary poet Gil Scott Heron,” Matthews said this week via press release.
That will change on Thursday, Sept. 25, when Matthews returns to Antioch to kick off his university and college tour, “The Poets,” as part of the Coretta Scott King Center’s “Freedom Forums” series. The forums aim to promote dialogue and action on contemporary racial and social justice issues through public events.
“An Evening with David Matthews” begins at 7 p.m. in the Foundry Theater; the event is sponsored by both the CSKC and the YS Community Foundation, and is co-organized by Antioch College’s student-led Poetry Club. Students in the Poetry Club will open the event by reading two poems written by members of the group.
Matthews — who stylizes his pen name as “david matthews” because, as he told the Dayton Daily News earlier this year when he received his second key to the city, he believes his name is “insignificant” when compared to the message in his words — released the second edition of his latest book, “Poetry Classics,” in April. The book includes the poem “The Word Violence Must Be Stopped!” Matthews wrote that he plans to close his Foundry program with a video performance of the poem.
“I am hoping everyone present in that audience will have this poem resonate inside of them for days after the performance,” Matthews said. “I’m praying that one day we can wake up and no one’s life has been taken because of another person’s greed, jealousy or anger.”
Ahead of his evening performance, Matthews will also offer a literary workshop for local YS High School students, beginning at 1 p.m. in the Foundry.
Tickets for “An Evening with David Matthews” are $10, and available online at antiochcollege.edu/cskc. A limited number of free and discounted tickets are available via a YS Community Foundation grant.
The Yellow Springs News encourages respectful discussion of this article.
You must login to post a comment.
Don't have a login? Register for a free YSNews.com account.
No comments yet for this article.