AUTHOR CARLOS ANDRES GOMEZ: In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is proud to bring International Book Award-winning author, Carlos Andrés Gómez, to Western Connecticut State University.

Colombian American poet Carlos Andrés Gómez, star of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and the Spike Lee movie “Inside Man” with Denzel Washington, will perform his original work from 1 to 2 p.m. in Midtown Student Center Theater. The event is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception and book signing with Gómez.

Carlos Andrés Gómez is the author of “Hijito,” for which he was awarded the Foreword INDIES Gold Medal and the International Book Award 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 winner and 19th U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey as the winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry. With keynotes and performances at more than 1,500 colleges, universities, independent schools, and companies in 47 U.S. states and 29 countries across six continents, Gómez 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. He has been featured on NPR, PBS, TEDx, Upworthy, Central Park SummerStage, Lincoln Center, 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, Gómez 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-winning tap dance legend Savion Glover on Broadway. Gómez is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

All are welcome to attend.