Thomas DeFreitas

Poet

Arlington, MA
Massachusetts US

Author's Bio

Thomas DeFreitas was born in Boston, was educated at the Boston Latin School, and attended the University of Massachusetts (in Boston and in Amherst) for two years. His poems have appeared in Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Dappled Things, Ibbetson Street, Pensive, Plainsongs, and elsewhere.

In 2018, Thomas’s poem “Chasing the Waves” was chosen by Arlington, Massachusetts Poet Laureate Cathie Desjardins to be part of the Talking Chair Project, an interactive poetry exhibit installed during National Poetry Month at the Robbins Library in Arlington. In the summer of 2019, “Detox” was chosen as an Award Poem by the editors of Plainsongs. In November 2024, "Grief" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the editor of Autumn Sky Poetry Daily.

Thomas's fourth collection of poems, Walking Between the Raindrops, was published in February 2025 by Kelsay Books.

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Walking Between the Raindrops (Kelsay Books, 2025)
,
Swift River Ballad (Kelsay Books, 2023)
,
Longfellow, Tell Me (Kelsay Books, 2022)
,
Winter in Halifax (Kelsay Books, 2021)
Journals: , ,
Ibbetson Street
,
Light
,
Muddy River Poetry Review
,
Mudfish
,
Orchards Poetry Journal
,
Ovunque Siamo
,
Plainsongs
, ,
Soul-Lit
Prizes won: 

Plainsongs Award Poem, "Detox," Summer 2019

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Dylan Thomas, Theodore Roethke, W. H. Auden, Marianne Moore, Ted Kooser, Seamus Heaney, Mary Oliver, Julia Fehrenbacher, Elena Lee Johnson, Mary Buchinger, Hilary Sallick, Victor Howes, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Linda Haviland Conte, Jennifer Martelli, Jennifer Markell, Mercedes Lawry, Countee Cullen, Adam Zagajewski, Hart Crane, Kenneth Koch, William Shakespeare, Catullus, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman
What I'm reading now: 
Furthermore by Jane Blanchard, Exquisite Bloody Beating Heart by Courtney LeBlanc, Pax by Annie Lighthart, The Unfolding by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
American
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Boston, MA
Massachusetts
Raised in: 
Boston, MA
Massachusetts
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Apr 13, 2025