CAConrad (born 1966) is an American poet, professor, and the author of seven books. They were based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and later Asheville,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Georgia.

Early life

CAConrad was born January 1, 1966, in Topeka,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, and grew up in

Boyertown Boyertown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Boyerschteddel'') is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 4,055 at the 2010 census. Boyertown is known for the many painted fiberglass bears that can be found throughout the town and boro ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Their mother was a fourteen-year-old runaway and father was a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

, their mother married three times. Conrad was bullied as a child and stated in the feature film documentary, ''The Book of Conrad'' (2015), "People called me ‘faggot’ more than they called me my name."

Career

Conrad is known for using and inventing the poetic form of " omaics." This form is a sort of writing prompt/personal exercise in being engaged in the present moment. Conrad was one of the two poets in the short film, ''I Hope I'm Loud When I'm Dead'' (2018) by filmmaker

Beatrice Gibson Beatrice may refer to: * Beatrice (given name) Places In the United States * Beatrice, Alabama, a town * Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality * Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated c ...

, also featured was poet

Eileen Myles Eileen Myles (born December 9, 1949) is a LAMBDA Literary Award-winning American poet and writer who has produced more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, libretti, plays, and performance pieces over the last three decades. No ...

. Conrad was a 2014 Lannan Fellow, a 2013 MacDowell Fellow, and a 2011 Pew Fellow, they also conduct workshops on (Soma)tic poetry and Ecopoetics. Their book ''While Standing in Line for Death'' won a 2018

Lambda Book Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

. In 2019, Conrad cancelled their planned appearance at the

Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York (SI) is an independent non-profit contemporary art organization founded in 1986. SI is located at 38 St Marks Pl, the corner of Second Avenue and St Marks Place in the East Village neighborhood of Manhatt ...

because of the organizations support of artist

Tobias Madison Tobias Madison (born 1985) is a Swiss artist, known for his interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinary conceptual art, moving image work, and performance art. His work frequently uses video, photography, text and installation to probe the economy of i ...

, who was accused of domestic violence. Conrad teaches poetry at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and the Sandberg Art Institute in Amsterdam.

Personal life

Conrad identifies as

Queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

. In 1998, Conrad's boyfriend Mark Holmes (aka. Earth) was violently murdered in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Bibliography

*''Deviant Propulsion'' (Soft Skull Press, 2006) , *''Advanced Elvis Course'' (Soft Skull Press, 2009) , *''The Book of Frank'' ( Wave Books, 2010/

Chax Press Charles Alexander (born 1954) is an American poet, publisher, and book artist. He is the director and editor-in-chief of Chax Press. Alexander also served as the Director of the Minnesota Center for the Book Arts from 1993 until 1995, and as book ...

, 2009) , *''The City Real & Imagined'' (with Frank Sherlock) (Factory School Books, 2010) *''A Beautiful Marsupial Afternoon: New (Soma)tics'' (Wave Books, 2012) , *''Ecodeviance : (soma)tics for the future wilderness'' (Wave Books, 2014) , *''PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN (were you high when you said this?)'' (Worms Press, 2014) *''While Standing in Line for Death'' (Wave Books, 2017). ,

Filmography

References

External links

* *
CAConrad's blog

CAConrad's Author Page at Wave Books

CAConrad's (Soma)tic Poetry Rituals
21st-century American poets Living people Writers from Philadelphia Pew Fellows in the Arts Outlaw poets American LGBT poets Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry winners Writers from Asheville, North Carolina People from Boyertown, Pennsylvania 1966 births Writers from Athens, Georgia 21st-century American LGBT people {{US-poet-1960s-stub