Christopher J. Sparks is a writer, historian, and web strategist. He is a historian on Northampton State Hospital and author of Minotaur, a memoir in progress. His work blends narrative history with personal reflection, and his research has been featured in local historical archives.
His slim poetry houses a contemporary man’s investigation of his own dark night of the soul. Reading him, one gets the impression that his ghosts follow him. One could say ghosts love him. He lived by inhabiting his past, bringing us along.
Beth Filson 24.February.2019
Latest Writing
- Budget Abandons Critical Mental Health ProgramThis was an article about Cutchins intended for the Globe, but the timing didn’t work out. 5.APR.2025 BOSTON – Governor Healey’s FY26 budget, line items 5042-5000 & 5095-0015 abandons children facing mental health… Read more: Budget Abandons Critical Mental Health Program
- Last weekI drove into work for an event.My bike carved into the turnsthat only make sense in a cityuntil the skyline revealed itself.Taking the South Station exit,sitting at a stop light,suddenly the smell of… Read more: Last week
- Firstborn, part 1Black Star’s 1999 hit Respiration, begins with a short phrase:Escuchela la ciudad respirando.Listen to the city breathing. The song goes on with the artists talking about their experiences, their losses, personal or more,… Read more: Firstborn, part 1
- Used booksI strolled into a used bookstore I hadn’t been to before. I found the poetry sction and started looking up and down, until I saw a name I recognized and immediately tore the… Read more: Used books
- AgainCrossposted @ NSH BOSTON – On January 22, 2025, Secretary Walsh presented Governor Healey’s proposed $62 billion budget plan to the Commonwealth’s stakeholders—a strategy that, while promising hundreds of millions for the MBTA, would simultaneously eliminate… Read more: Again
- The Relic, part 2, Night of dayIt is the ugliest police station I have ever seen in my life. Not that I’ve seen many, thankfully, but this looks like a shoebox blown up to accommodate three firetruck-sized garage doors.… Read more: The Relic, part 2, Night of day
