Blog | Carlos Andrés Gómez

On tour in the Middle East (World Expo & Emirates Lit Fest)

It’s hard to synthesize the feelings of this whirlwind past week in the Middle East—I hugged my father for the first time in nearly two and a half years, and he got to see me headline a show at Expo 2020 Dubai with my brilliant & dear friend, Dr. Afra Atiq, & my best friend since I was 13, Brent Shuttleworth, and then do an encore in the desert and under the stars for Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

I got to hang and rock the stage with my dear amiga, Elizabeth Acevedo, as well as my sister, Nikita Gill, and the wonderful Danabelle Gutierrez.

This was my 3rd time performing in the UAE, and each time a little bit more of my heart is captured by the people of Dubai who continue to astound me with their generosity, kindness, and worldliness.

I’m so grateful to Ahlam Bolooki, Isobel Abulhoul, Jenny Malton, Annabelle Corton, & everyone on the festival team who has so effusively championed and supported my work.

Brent, Afra, and I created an original multilingual, multi-genre piece inspired by and in celebration of the festival’s theme. It meant so much that the entire festival team believed in us and supported our vision from the beginning.

Hoping to travel to many more festivals in the spirit of this collaboration across language, culture, and genre.

All of that being said, it just feels so good to be out in the world again after so long. Truly, here comes the sun…

#EmiratesLitFest

#Expo2020Dubai

#HereComesTheSun

“Are you listening?” (Mental health doc on HBO Max)

If you watch one thing today, let it be #AreYouListening The Healing of Us, a candid conversation about mental wellness, stigmas surrounding mental health, & the power of therapy. Such a joy to be in conversation with Sasha Merci and @josierosario for Pa’lante! HBO Max.

After a mentally and emotionally tough past week, this is particularly resonant for me.

What does mental health mean to you? What does it look like to really heal?

#AreYouListening is content a series created by @word.agency and directed by @zoiladarton inspired by the iconic show Habla on @HBOMax.

You can watch my teaser HERE

Catch the full conversation here: bit.ly/3pIf4nP

#HBOPartner #PalanteHBOMax

poetry + science

I was recently commissioned to write an original poem highlighting the power of cell research.

This was my first time using poetry in collaboration with science.

The piece I wrote, “Saving our Cells,” spotlights the work of an incredible scientist—Dr. Heather Beasley—whose research studies why Black and Latina women have worse outcomes when diagnosed with breast cancer.

My mom is a survivor, so this one cuts very close to the bone.

You can watch it here (just scroll down for “Saving our Cells”): https://resource.thermofisher.com/page/gibcoloveyourcells/

Button Poetry releases “Beating Traffic”

Here it is—the culmination of a promise two best friends made to each other at 13.

A tribute to the resilience that carried us through these past 18 months of grief & loss.

A fusion of poetry, music, & film like you’ve never seen:

“Awe & wonder—are you still there?”

https://bit.ly/3EK45ko (via Button Poetry)

#ForYourGRAMMYconsideration

#BestSpokenWordAlbum

—

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

International Book Award-winning poet releases “Beating Traffic”

September 22, 2021

(Atlanta, GA) – Colombian American poet Carlos Andrés Gómez, star of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and Spike Lee’s #1 box office movie Inside Man with Denzel Washington, released the short film “Beating Traffic” today through Button Poetry (the largest spoken word media content platform in the world).

“Beating Traffic,” a short film directed by Joe West, is the first video release from Gómez’s debut studio album, Opus, which he recorded with his best friend/musician/producer, Brent Shuttleworth, and GRAMMY Award-winning record producer, Joe West.

Inspired by a promise made between childhood best friends at thirteen (Gómez and Shuttleworth), Opus introduces a groundbreaking collaboration of poetry, music, and film. Having recently submitted the album for GRAMMY consideration in the Best Spoken Word Album category, Gómez seeks to become the first contemporary spoken word poet and first Latino to win for spoken word album.

Carlos Andrés Gómez is the author of Hijito, for which he was awarded the Foreword INDIES Gold Medal and the International Book Award for Poetry in 2020, and the coming-of-age memoir Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood, released by Penguin Random House in 2012.

His most recent book, Fractures, was selected by Pulitzer Prize-winning former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey as the winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry.

Hailing from New York City, Gómez has performed at nearly 800 colleges and universities in 47 U.S. states and headlined shows in 26 countries across five continents. He has been featured on NPR, TEDx, Upworthy, Central Park SummerStage, and partnered with John Legend for Senior Orientation, a program to counteract bullying and champion inclusive masculinity among high school students.

A former social worker and public school teacher, Carlos first made a name for himself by winning at the Apollo Theater’s celebrated Amateur Night and later as a member of the renowned Nuyorican Poets Café’s slam team. In 2008, he collaborated with Tony Award-winner Savion Glover on Broadway. Gómez is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

For press access, interviews, and other inquiries:

booking@carloslive.com

For more information on Carlos Andrés Gómez: www.CarlosLive.com

I was just named 2021 Georgia Author of the Year!

I was just named the winner of the 2021 Georgia Author of the Year Award. 🤯

Natasha Trethewey, who made the publication of “Fractures” possible by selecting it for the Felix Pollak Prize, was announced as the winner in the memoir category for “Memorial Drive” just before they announced the Poetry Full-Length category. You can’t make this up.

In the judge’s citation, Malcolm Tariq wrote:

In Fractures, Carlos Andrés Gómez delivers a poignant, thoughtful interrogation of what it means to live and love when society gives so many reasons not to. These poems chart a difficulty and invite deep reflection about fatherhood and interpersonal relationships and the strains that racism and notions of manhood place on them. Long after they’ve been read, these poems continue to hold the reader. They teach us that there is forgiveness. There are different ways of caring, and there are different ways of moving forward with the many things we carry.

Thank you to the Georgia Writers Association for honoring me and my work and everyone who’s supported this book. Wow.

Watch the announcement here: https://youtu.be/5hmCnfvfHKU?t=2866

#GeorgiaAuthorOfTheYearAward
#FracturesBookTour
#LatinxPoetry
#TeachLivingPoets