Jason O'Toole was the 6th poet laureate of North Andover, MA, co-founder of The Anne Bradstreet Poetry Contest, and a judge for the Capital District Poetry Slam Festival and the Tom Nattell Peace Poetry Prize. He is the author of three collections of poetry, including
The Strange Misgivings of the Sadly Gifted (Dead Man's Press Ink) and four chapbooks. He is the former assistant editor of
Dialectical Anthropology. His newest poems can be found in
Tiny Molecules,
Wednesday Magazine,
Another Chicago Magazine,
Gargoyle, as well anthologies such as
Love is for All of US: Poems of Tenderness and Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community and Friends (Storey Publishing 2025) and The 2020
Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2019 (Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association 2020).
He was the vocalist for NYC Hardcore Punk bands including Life’s Blood (Prank Records) and My Rifle (Warzone Records), and has contributed to books on the punk subculture including
Cut and Paste – The American Hardcore Fanzine (Unterwett 2024) and
New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB (St. Martin Griffin 2016). He is the treasurer of the Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco and an advocate for elders in Massachusetts.
