I’m so honored to receive a Pushcart Prize nomination from The Journal for my poem “Elegy for the Longest Year.” You can read my poem here: http://thejournalmag.org/archives/18355
I’m also extremely grateful to receive a Best of the Net nomination for my flash nonfiction piece, “Intersection,” from Burningword Literary Journal.
Congrats to my fellow nominees!
Tomorrow marks 1 month since “Fractures” was released. Last night, I got word from my publisher that the first print run of my book is SOLD OUT.
The second printing is underway, and there are a few copies you can still find on Bookshop, IndieBound, Amazon.com, & Barnes & Noble, but I wanted to say thank you to every single one of you who has supported this book.
Listen, with barely any press coverage and no reviews in any journals or publications (yet), this is entirely the doing of those of you who have supported me for so long: high school teachers who are teaching the book, professors who’ve integrated it into their curriculum or their MFA craft lecture, those who’ve packed my shows for years and waited in line to say hi at the end of the night, each of you who’ve reviewed the book on Goodreads, my heroes/beloveds/family who’ve gifted “Fractures” and championed it to their friends and colleagues.
This has been truly grassroots, word-of-mouth, indie as all everything.
The world is fraught and terrifying right now for so many reasons, but I’m welcoming in this little glimpse of light. You make me possible.
#LatinxPoetry
#TeachLivingPoets
Today is the official release date of FRACTURES!
Here are 5 FREE ways to support the book:
The event is completely FREE to attend, you’ll just need to register: https://bit.ly/33RDnWy
If you’ve yet to get your copy of the book, you can get it here: https://bit.ly/34REIMr
It would mean everything to me to see you & celebrate this Saturday.
With love & gratitude,
Carlos
When I did my 1st college show on May 9th, 2001 at Bates College, I never could have imagined that I’d one day be a full-time poet doing my 1,000th show at Tennessee Wesleyan University on October 6th, 2020 (mid-pandemic, masked up and socially-distanced, no less).
Still taking the leap toward this life, still grateful, still growing, still pushing.
21 yrs. in the making, 5 yrs. of writing—the cover of my debut full-length poetry collection, “Fractures”
(stunning cover design by Debbie Berne).
After first taking in the breathtaking cover image, I immediately noticed my name. My initial impression: “Damn, that’s a big choice on the font size.”
But then, I thought back to how I felt in school: a delayed reader and outcast, alienated and intimidated not just by the dominant canonical writers solely taught at my public school, but by literacy in general.
I never imagined encountering a book by an author with a name like mine, with two accent marks and in bold, unapologetic lettering.
For anyone out there who didn’t think someone like them could write a book or help shape the literary canon—this book is for you.
For more info & to Pre-Order: https://bit.ly/2EyOHwR or through Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Bookshop, Amazon
