Davies was born in London, England in 1966 and lived there before relocating with his family to the United States in 1983. He graduated from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut in 1985, and subsequently studied Illustration and Fine Art at The Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, GA, then the School of Visual Arts in NYC. After college, he began doing freelance cartoons, before being hired full-time to draw for The Journal News in April 1993. He is the staff cartoonist for Newsday in NY and his cartoons are syndicated nationally by Universal Press Syndicate, UClick.. In the past Davies has drawn for The Journal News in Westchester, NY, the Hearst Connecticut Newspaper group, and the nonprofit online policy journal Remapping Debate.org His work has appeared regularly in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times & USA Today. His work has also been featured in Newsweek, Time Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, CNN, The Week and Mad Magazine. In 2004-05 he was the President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Along with penning political cartoons, Davies is an author and illustrator of children's picture books. He is represented by Rodeen Literary Agency and was signed with Neal Porter, of Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan to write and illustrate his first two picture books. The first book titled Ben Rides On was released to wide critical acclaim in the Spring of 2013, was a Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2013 and a Kirkus Reviews "Best Book" of 2013. His second book Ben Draws Trouble will be released in 2015. He was also signed by Neal Porter Books to illustrate the forthcoming book Nerdy Birdy, written by NY Times Bestselling author Aaron Reynolds, which is due for release in spring of '15. Davies has given talks about cartooning and politics at many venues including the UN, The Library of Congress, The National Press Club in Washington DC, Columbia University, The British Library in London, The National Archives in Washington DC and the Tribeca Film Festival. He was also the 2004 Writer-in-Residence with the Journalism and Art departments at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and served on the advisory board of the National Cartoon Museum. Matt Davies frequently updates his website with projects or illustrations he is currently working on. His work usually displays a multitude of political cartoons which reflect his views on the current state of the political landscape and state of the world. Davies and his wife, Lucy, live in Connecticut with their three children.
