Karl Parker received an B.A. and a B.Phil from University of Pittsburgh in 1994 and an M.F.A. in Poetry from the New School in 2004; he was a PhD candidate (ABD) in English at Cornell University where he received his M.A. in 2001. He taught literature and creative writing at Cornell, Hunter College, Auburn State Correctional Facility, Hobart & William Smith Colleges (where he also served as Poetry Editor of the Seneca Review for five years), Syracuse University, and the Downtown Writer's Center in Syracuse, NY. His first book of poems, Personationskin, was published by NoTell Books in 2009. He also released two chapbooks, Harmstorm (2006, Lame House Press) and Outsides (1994, self-published with a grant from the University of Pittsburgh). Individual poems appeared in such places as Stone Canoe, Volt Magazine, and S/tick.