Biography
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Works by Nathan Graziano

Poetry Books:

  • Not So Profound (GBP, 2003) 
  • Teaching Metaphors (sunnyoutside, 2007)
  • After the Honeymoon (sunnyoutside, 2009)

Poetry Chapbooks:

  • A Night At The O'Aces ( Phony Lid Publications, 1999)
  • No White Horses (Green Bean Press, 2000)
  • Seasons From The Second Floor (GBP, 2001)
  • Idiot Warriors w/ Dan Crocker (GBP, 2004)
  • Honey, I'm Home (sunnyoutside, 2005)

Poetry Broadsides:

  • Dreaming Of Insomnia (Lucid Moon Press, 1999)
  • Keeping Bad Habits (w/ Scott Gordon, Staplegun, 2000)
  • The Aesthetics of a Yo-yo (Black Spring Press, 2000)
  • Betrothed (Kitty Litter Press, 2002)
  • Cracker and Me (Hemispherical Press, 2003)
  • Red Car Girl (Mayapple Press, 2005)
  • Paper Ark (Sunnyoutside, 2005)

Fiction:

  • Frostbite (GBP, 2002)
  • Chickenshits w/ Dan Crocker (GBP, 2004)
  • Labor Day (Bottle of Smoke Press, 2005)
  • Men of Letters (GBP, 2006)

CD's and Tapes:

  • An Exit To Nowhere, Portland, ME (11-21-02)
  • Live At Beiderman's Deli, Plymouth, NH (5-1-01)
  • At Shakespeare and Co. w/ Jeff Grimshaw, NYC (10-21-01)
  • At Shakespeare and Co. w/ Jonathan Ames, NYC (7-31-02)
  • At Coal Creek w/ Lindsay Wilson, Laramie, WY (7-7-02)
  • You're Fucking Dead, Butterball, Portland, ME (7-29-04)

Biography

When someone asks me what I do for a living, I answer honestly: I teach high school. I feel no need to puff out my chest and bluster about writing. Writing called to me in my early-twenties, and I answered. Rather, I've tried to answer. That's all there is to say about me as a writer. The rest I try to say in my work, although it doesn't always work out that way. Most of the time, I fail and have to trash the piece I'm working on. That's life. That's writing-at least as I understand it.

When it comes to the biographical data, it's also fairly mundane. I grew up in West Warwick, Rhode Island, the home of winners. As a kid, I wanted to be the catcher for The Red Sox when I got older. Then, during my teenage years, my goals changed, and I either wanted to direct porno films or drive a Zamboni. Instead, I went to college.

I did my undergraduate work at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, where I joined a frat and drank a lot of beer, but somehow managed to come away with a degree in English and my teacher certification. After college, I lived and taught in Las Vegas for a year (a long story) then moved back to New England, where I'm smack-dab in the middle of Red Sox country and can watch all the games on cable. In December, I finished my MFA in fiction writing from the University of New Hampshire and can't wait to stare at the diploma once it's hanging on the wall in my bedroom. 

I currently live in Manchester, New Hampshire, with my beautiful wife Liz and two beautiful children, Paige and Owen. For the past decade, I have been teaching English at Pembroke Academy in Pembroke, New Hampshire.

Along the way, I have been fortunate to have a few books, chapbooks, and other pieces of writing published. In 2002, my first hardcover collection of short fiction, Frostbite, was published by the now-defunct Green Bean Press. In October of 2003, my first full-length collection of poetry Not So Profound was also published by Green Bean Press. I am the author of seven chapbooks, which includes an Idiot Trilogy with my good friend, Dan Crocker, several broadsides of poetry and fiction, and some spoken word CD's. My work has been nominated for numerous Pushcart Prizes and resoundingly denied every time. 

In 2007, Teaching Metaphors, a collection of poetry that documents my experiences teaching high school, was published by sunnyoutside and named Best Local Collection of Poetry for 2007 by The Hippo Press in Southern New Hampshire.

In September of 2009, my third full-length book of poetry titled After the Honeymoon was published by sunnyoutside.

My poetry, short stories, non-fiction and reviews have been published by some of the following print journals, zines and newspapers: Rattle, Night Train, Front & Centre, Qercus Review, Nerve Cowboy, The Owen Wister Review, The Chiron Review, Main Street Rag, The Meadow, The Dublin Quarterly, The Nashua Telegraph, The Hippo Press, The Leaflet, Controlled Burn, Poesy, The Coe Review, New Hampshire Public Radio, and others.