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The Atlantic Theological Conference is one of those amazing examples of locality and shared memory. The Conference is, in truth, a humble affair. Every summer, a modest number of Anglicans gather somewhere in Atlantic Canada to share and hear papers on theological topics. Its proceedings are not widely available. Even so, it has become my very favourite conference. For me, the ATC represents the rare and disappearing magic of living tradition. It has for decades been the site of serious theological inquiry in a way that brings together lay people, academics, and clerics. I’ve been attending it as often as I can since we moved to Halifax. Our collection of the physical editions of the conference’s proceedings almost fills a whole shelf. ...

It's So Easy to Love You by Matthew Joel It’s So Easy to Love You is about my early experiences as a father. This deluxe version of the single includes two bonus tracks: an advance copy of Bright Glory, which will be part of my 4-track series over at matthewjoel.substack.com and an early acoustic demo of It’s So Easy to Love You. Credits released June 13, 2025 ...

I almost walked out of the Bob Dylan biopic. The depiction of Dylan in the film felt so alien to my own experiences making art and music. I found it a puzzling and disturbing experience. Then a week or so later I went and saw the Robbie Williams chimp movie and it supplied everything I was left wanting. This essay tells the story of the experience while meditating on divine inspiration in the arts. ...

I started writing poetry as a counterpoint to academic writing during my Master’s Program in 2017. Academic writing can have its own beauty, to be sure, but it is a beauty that belongs to its genre: clarity of thought, precision of argument, rhetorical symmetry. But I’m guessing most academics could tell you that there are moments of insight in the process of reading/writing/thinking that the academic essay is not adequate to. These are moments of what I can only call spiritual insight. These are moments for poetry. After collecting a small body of work that commemorates moments like these, I sent them to my brother-in-law. “Have you considered sending these to journals?” He asked. ...

![[26479872-dfc1-4e99-b268-0ce48d4bd3f8_1456x721.jpg]] Bound was a bookbinding performance that took place on October 19, 2024 as part of the Halifax art festival, _Nocturne. The exhibit brought together the crafts of four different artists who worked collectively over six hours to create six hand-made volumes of illustrated poetry. Each artist contributed one element: Christopher Snook inscribed original poems. Henry Lachance illuminated each page with mixed media illustrations. Gregor Chiasson designed paper collages on the front and back of each cover. Matthew Joel Vanderkwaak bound these elements together into complete books. 📖 To read the volumes, follow the links below. 🎵 To hear the exhibit’s original soundtrack, follow this link. 📷 To see a visual record of the exhibit, browse the photos at the bottom of this page. ✏️ To learn more about the project, read this essay. ...

![[plotinus.jpg]] This was my first lecture for Foundation Year Program, which is famous in Halifax for its “musical theatre” approach to the art of the lecture. It’s a two-hour affair in a hall of 200 first year students with a peanut gallery of faculty sitting in the back row. Writing this lecture was a really formative experience for me. I realized while preparing over the summer that this is one of the only lectures of the year (besides those on Virgil) about the Roman Empire. What does it mean to think of Plotinus as a distinctly Roman figure? I found myself wondering especially about the meaning of his school in Rome. In the end the lecture became partly an apology for forms of education that are not strictly determined by social and political agenda. What if the purpose of education was not “to make the world a better place”? What if the destiny of the soul lies not only beyond the cosmos? ...

Water in my Mind / The Grey Line by Matthew Joel Two folk songs about life in Canada and the liminal fabric of “what is”. Credits released October 4, 2024 Songs by Matthew Joel Produced by Tavis Weir and Matthew Joel Guitars, vocals, and percussion by Matthew Joel. Banjo and additional vocals by Tavis Weir. Fiddle and additional vocals by Rachel Kimmelman

My Opa was a carpenter. He was an ambitious, industrious man who built a new life for his family in northern British Columbia after the Vanderkwaak clan lost almost everything in Holland during the second world war. Opa was a difficult man to feel close to, but at the same time, his vocation in carpentry and his example as an artist have made an impression on my siblings and cousins that is very close indeed. ...

I’ll start by saying that completing this dissertation was by far the most difficult thing I’ve done in my entire life. I was really honoured (and humbled, almost too humbled) to have my PhD program funded in its entirety by the ERC (European Research Council) and SSHRC (The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council). During the program, I can only imagine I suffered as much as the average grad student from imposter syndrome. It’s an odd experience learning to be a professional researcher while pretending you are already a professional researcher at the same time. ...

This was one of my first poetry publications. It was made special a) by its appearance on the Ekstasis site immediately following a beautiful poem by a dear friend of mine (and one of my favourite poets), Christopher Snook, and b) by the inspired choice of the editor to pair the poem with a haunting photo by Kristaps Ungurs. “The Well.” Ekstasis, 2024. ![[Screenshot 2026-07-29 at 11.20.37 AM.png]] ![[Screenshot 2026-07-29 at 11.22.26 AM.png]] ...