Chad Chamberlain, one of Words and Images’ two fiction editors for 2009, has studied English and Philosophy for the past three years at the University of Southern Maine. With his current focus in Critical Theory, he plans on attending a graduate program in Comparative Literature after the completion of his undergraduate degree.
As a college student funded by grants and loans, Chad has also been selling coffee, books and clothing at independent businesses to pay his way through school. It was through his employment at a bookstore that first introduced him to Critical Theory, prompting him to study it at the university level. He believes that one of the best qualities of attending state schools is the degree to which many students must hold their education in their own hands; Chad believes that the necessity of paying for one’s own education (a common experience for many USM students) firmly connects a student to the motivating forces behind their pursuit of higher education. Such experiences have lead Chad toward an effort to avoid classist expectations too often affiliated with getting a degree, as such conceptualizations of higher education are old-fashioned and outdated. The manner in which he pursues his education embodies the very spirit of many of the theories he studies.
To a large degree, Chad’s academic interests intersect with his personal interests; the No Wave art/music movement of the 1970s, noise culture and theory, and Situationist thought and praxis are but a few examples of interests that lend themselves well to academic study. In his spare time, he is working on a thesis in defense of hipster culture.
In terms of fiction, Chad’s genres of choice are horror and mystic surrealism. A few favorite stories of his are Street of Crocodiles, Notable American Women, Baron in the Trees, and The Aleph. In terms of non-literary forms of art, he enjoys vampire films and writes music criticism and concert reviews for local, arts-based magazines. You can read some samples here.
