P.J. Mathews is a founding member of the Creative Futures Academy and Director of the CFA at University College Dublin, where he is a Professor of Irish Literature, Drama and Culture. He leads the Engaged Creativity research strand for the College of Arts and Humanities, and is Chair of the UCD Council of Creative Fellows.

He has written widely on Irish literature, theatre, music and cultural history. He is co-editor (with Declan Kiberd) of Handbook of the Irish Revival, published by the Abbey Theatre Press and nominated for an Irish Book of the Year award in 2015; editor of The Cambridge Companion to J. M. Synge (2009); and author of Revival, published by Field Day in 2003.

He has worked on a number of television projects as Executive Producer (The Flourishing, RTÉ / Tyrone Productions, 2021); as script writer and Literary Advisor (Voices of Ireland, Sky Arts / Red Shoe Productions, 2021; as Cultural Advisor (Centenary, RTÉ / Stillwater Communications, 2016).

Dr Mathews is a member of the governing board of RTÉ, acting as the Chair of the Board’s Programme Committee and Strategy Committee. He is the Founder and Director of Academic Podcasting for UCDscholarcast, and has previously served as a Visiting Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. He was Academic Director of the W.B. Yeats Winter School in Sligo (2017-20) and the Parnell Summer School in Avondale (2002-05).