Accomplishments I'm Proud of in 2020: The Collapsed Bookshelf

 

Some people have false starts, I have false finishes. 

The manuscript for my second book full-length collection of poems wasvaccepted at the end of 2016. Because of the nature of how I wrote these poems (leaving them in need of serious editing) and the way my schedule has been a fluctuating mess for years, the final draft with my changes and Mignon's was finished by March 2020. 

In July 2020, The Collapsed Bookshelf came out. It received good reviews and exposure thanks in no small part to it being on Amazon. Turns out this was both a blessing and a curse, as I didn't expect Jeff Bezos to turn even more evil than he already was. Still, I wanted my book to be taken as seriously as possible. It worked thanks in large part to Editor and Publisher Mignon Ariel King of Tell-Tale Chapbooks. 

The Collapsed Bookshelf has since been nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award. For a collection of poems I mostly wrote in less than twenty four hours, this was the second hardest collection I ever worked on. It was worth all the effort I made and all the stolen time I had to seize to finish the job.

My gratitude goes to Mignon. To advance copy blurb writers CA Conrad,Joanie DiMartino and Timothy Gager, To everyone who purchased a copy. To everyone who let me know they enjoyed the book. And last but not least to Ed Gault who provided me with the book's cover photo.

If you haven't purchased the book yet, please consider doing so on Amazon. Hold your nose if you must. I promise to put out more work for more indy operations in the future. These poems mean a lot to me, and I'm glad they mean something to others.

The Unused Inroduction to my Book

I have a nasty habit  of taking any essay i write and trying to make it a manifest encompassing all my opinions. This was no different. 

Back in 2017, when Mignon Ariel King and I were starting to work on The Collapsed Bookshelf, I was still calling it Tales of a Stone Soup Chef (which  makes me all the more grateful to Joanie DiMartino for her title suggestion). It's not a good idea to write the introduction to your own poetry book, but I figured I'd give it a shot. Mignon included it in the earliest draft, and I immediately wanted it out before we went any further.  

Enjoy a piece of what was left on the cutting room floor. And please consider visiting Amazon and buying my book if you haven't already.

My Latest Book is Now on Amazon

In 2005 I started my tenure at the historic weekly reading series Stone Soup Poetry, co-hosting and promoting at first before becoming the full time host.

Ten years later, I began a series called Stone Soup Croutons, poems I would write based on what was read on the open mic and who was featured each week.

The Collapsed Bookshelf is a selection of Stone Soup Croutons pieces written from June 2015 to August 2016. This book collects reworked poems, many of which are no longer available online.

I am grateful to Mignon Ariel King and Tell-Tale Chapbooks for giving this work a brand new presentation. I am also grateful to Edward S. Gault for providing photography for the cover.

Order my book now off of Amazon. Thank you for your support. 

Tell-Tale Chapbooks Announces My Forthcoming Poetry Collection

From Mignon Ariel King, with all my gratitude:

Coming This Summer (sooner than you think)!
FROM TELL-TALE CHAPBOOKS

The Collapsed Bookshelf
By Chad Parenteau

Chad Parenteau hosts the Stone Soup Poetry series. The poems in The Collapsed Bookshelf reveal the cross sections of Parenteau’s personal life and his reflections on the longest-running weekly poetry series in Massachusetts. The poems are derived from his online “Stone Soup Croutons” weekly poetry column. The collection has an avant-garde tone, but somehow the poet blends his stream of consciousness, social observations, and uniquely non-lecturing political commentary into a narrative of connected maybes.

Cover image: Edward S. Gault © 2017

I will post the final cover as well as the link to purchase the book the moment it's available.

Additional gratitude goes to Ed Gault for his commissioned photo and to everyone with their input, including Joanie DiMartino, who recommended the book's title.

A Poem for Whale Watching

Poet Joanie DiMartino returns along with artist Dr. Regina Valluzzi. Thanks for checking our poets out this final week of June at Oddball Magazine.

Happy Birthday Joanie DiMartino

Another oddball who will soon return.

Happy Birthday, Joanie DiMartino

We have to get you back into Oddball Magazine soon.

Won't You Help Oddball Help A Fellow Poet Today?

I would have just suggested supporting poets by reading what they're doing during NaPoWriMo, but Joanie DiMartino has a much more in-depth idea.  Read her poem today at Oddball Magazine and welcome back an artistic contributor from way back in the days of Spoonful, Cindy K. Williams!

This Will Probably Be My New Facebook Picture

From my July 13th reading at the Courtyard Gallery in Mystic, Connecticut with Jake St. John as hosted by Joanie DiMartino.  It was taken by my girlfriend, and I like it despite my disheveled, grown-too-long hair.