The Poet for Hire Speaks In The Third Person
Chad Parenteau was born in Woonsocket Rhode Island in 1973 and grew up in Bellingham, Massachusetts. Graduating high school in 1991, he entered Framingham State College (Now Framingham State University) and majored in English. He learned poetry and prose writing from instructors such as Alan Feldman and Miriam Levine and studied journalism under Desmond McCarthy. Volunteering for the college newspaper The Gatepost, he wrote articles, columns, and comic strips, serving his Junior and Senior years as the Comics Editor and Living/Arts Editor respectively.
A finalist for the Framingham State College Marjorie Sparrow Literary Award in 1993, Chad was active in campus literary groups, contributing to The Onyx, Framingham State College's literary journal (where he also served as a reader), and Life Underwater, an early literary effort by Boston-based writer, musician and journalist James O'Brien.
Moving to Boston in 1995, he obtained his MFA at Emerson College, studying with Bill Knott, Gail Mazur and John Skoyles. His involvement in the small press continued, publishing poetry in Meanie and Shampoo and profile pieces for Lollipop, Comics Interpreter and Whats Up. He was also an early contributor to Boston's Weekly Dig, focusing on artistic and activist groups and reporting as one of a the few print journalists present for the events during and after the 2000 presidential debate at UMass Boston.
In 2003, Chad self-published his first chapbook, Self-Portrait In Fire (based on his MFA thesis) and won a Cambridge Poetry Award. He continures to appear in numerous print and online publications, including anthologies such as French Connections: A Gathering of Franco-American Poets. In 2007, his poem "Moonlighting" was on display at Boston City Hall as part of The Mayor's Prose and Poetry Program. 2008 saw the publication of his third chapbook, Discarded: Poems for My Apartments from Červená Barva Press. In 2011, a catalog of his work was added to Framingham State University's Alumni Collection at the Henry Whittemore Library. Recently, his light verse has appeared in such venues as Salon. His newest collection, Patron Emeritus, is forthcoming from FootHills Publishing.
Chad has featured in several venues, including Spoken Word Nantucket, the Fox Chase Reading Series in Philadelphia, the 17 Poets! Reading Series in New Orleans, and the Out of The Blue Art Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is the current host and organizer of Stone Soup Poetry, one of the longest-running weekly poetry venues in the state. His recent contribution to the reading series is creating and editing its online tribute journal, Spoonful.
Recently, Chad has also returned to comics journalism, serving as a co-host and contributing writer and editor for the comics internet talk show, "We Got Issues."
Chad continues to live and work in the Boston area. His current place of employment is the VA Hospital in Jamaica Plain. In addition to being a retinal imager for the Optometry department, he serves as a senior imager, research assistant and faculty instructor for the SF National Training Center.
Chad is available for readings and might be interested in submitting to your project if you feel he is right for it. You can email him at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com
Bio photo courtesy of Bill Perrault
