Roberto Carlos Garcia

Poet, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Author's Bio

Garcia is associate professor of English at Union College of Union County NJ. He writes poetry and prose about the Afro-Latinx and Afro-Diasporic experience. His work has been published widely in places like Poetry Magazine, NACLA, Poets & Writers, The Root, and others. Garcia is a 2023 New Jersey State Council of the Arts Poetry Fellow and the author of five books. Four poetry collections: Melancolía (Cervena Barva Press, 2016), black / Maybe: An Afro Lyric (Willow Books, 2018), [Elegies] (Flower Song Press, 2020), What Can I Tell You: Selected Poems (Flower Song Press, 2022), and one essay collection, Traveling Freely, (Curbstone Books / Northwestern University Press 2024). Garcia is the founder of Get Fresh Books Publishing, a literary nonprofit.

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Book:
Traveling Freely: Essays (Northwestern University Press, 2024)

Poetry

Books:
What Can I Tell You: Selected Poems (FlowerSong Press, 2022)
,
Elegies (FlowerSong Press, 2020)
,
black / Maybe: An Afro Lyric (Willow Books, 2018)
,
Melancolía (Cervena Barva Press, 2016)
Chapbook:
Amores Gitano (gypsy loves) (Cervena Barva Press, 2013)
Journals:
5 A.M.
,
Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day
, ,
Barrelhouse
, ,
Connotation Press
, ,
Prizes won: 

2023 NJ State Council on the Arts Fellowship

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
So many! Come on! Hahaha.
What I'm reading now: 
The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, Diasporic Blackness: The Life and Times of Arturo Schomburg by Dr Vanessa K. Valdes

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Black, Caribbean American, Latino/Latina/Latinx
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English, Spanish
Born in: 
New York, NY
New York
Raised in: 
New York, NY
New York
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jan 23, 2025