Matthew Vollmer holds a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina, an M.A. in English from North Carolina State University, and an M.F.A. in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He now teaches in the English Department at Virginia Tech, where he also advises graduate teaching assistants in the composition program.

He lives in Blacksburg, Virginia, with his wife, Kelly Pender, their son Elijah, and boxer Ruby.