20 years ago this Saturday, I went to my last day of work as a social worker in Harlem, which happened to be the last (and only) time I had salaried employment. The next day, I...
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Carlos partnered with John Legend on Senior Orientation, a program to counteract bullying and champion inclusive masculinity among high school students.
CARLOS ANDRÉS GÓMEZ is a Colombian American poet, speaker, actor, and author of Fractures, selected by Pulitzer Prize winner and 19th U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey as the winner of the 2020 Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, as well as winner of the 2021 Midwest Book Award, the 2021 Independent Publisher Book Award Silver Medal, the 2022 IAN Book of the Year Award for Poetry, the 2023 Rubery International Book Award, and the 2024 North American Book Award; Hijito, selected by Eduardo C. Corral as the winner of the 2018 Broken River Prize, as well as winner of the 2019 Foreword INDIES Gold Medal in Poetry, the 2020 IndieReader Discovery Award, the 2020 International Book Award, and a #1 SPD bestseller; Circling Fatherhood, winner of the 2024 Poetry International Chapbook Prize; and the memoir Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood, a finalist for the UK’s 2022 Page Turner International Book Award that was released by Penguin Random House. A star of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, TV One’s Verses and Flow, and Spike Lee’s #1 box office movie Inside Man with Denzel Washington, Carlos has delivered keynotes and done engagements at more than 1,500 colleges, universities, independent schools, and companies in 47 U.S. states and headlined events in 29 countries across six continents.
Named 2021 Georgia Author of the Year by the Georgia Writers Association, 2016 Best Diversity Artist by Campus Activities Magazine, Artist of the Year at the 2009 Promoting Outstanding Writers Awards, and a 2024 NACE Speaker of the Year nominee, Gómez is widely known for his viral poems, “What Latino Looks Like,” “Where are you really from?” and others, which have garnered more than 12 million views online. Carlos is one of the highest booked acts in the history of the college market and among the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world.
Winner of the 2024 Yeats International Poetry Prize, 2019 Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry, 2015 Lucille Clifton Poetry Prize, 2019 Fischer National Poetry Prize, and the 2018 Atlanta Review International Poetry Prize, Carlos is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. He is a proud father of two.
CARLOS’ PRESS KIT: (Colleges & Independent Schools: click here / Companies & Law Firms: click here)
“Carlos was by far the most engaging and inspiring poet I have ever seen.”
–Drew Donica, Lawrence University
“Powerful and tear-jerking…a mind-blowing, perspective-changing experience.”
–Shannon Busta, Cord Weekly
“***** (5/5 stars) — Gómez lays himself bare…a quarter of the audience shed tears yet the show was uplifting.”
–Bernie Greenwood, Hairline Magazine
“Mi Gente” (Short film directed by Kristian Mercado Figueroa)
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“What Latino Looks Like” (Viral poem with more than 2.2 million views)
“What is Genocide?” (Viral poem with more than 1.1 million views)
“Where are you really from?” (Viral poem with more than 2 million views)
“What is Genocide?” (Viral poem with more than 1.1 million views)
“Where are you really from?” (Viral poem with more than 2 million views)
Five sublime days in the Pacific Northwest as an artist in residence
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24 years ago today I did my first college gig
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“Ghazal Circling Fatherhood” is today’s featured poem for the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series!
Feels like a dream to see my new piece that wrestles with masculinity, fatherhood, and lineage as today’s featured poem for the Academy of American Poets’ iconic Poem-a-Day series. Heartfelt gratitude to Willie Perdomo (an...
“Where Language Ends” just won the 2025 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize!!
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“Circling Fatherhood” named winner of the 2024 Poetry International Chapbook Prize!!
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