Connecticut Poet Laureate

Poet Laureate – José B. González

José B. González is the author was born in El Salvador and came to the U.S. at the age of eight. He once knew no English and now is a professor of English with a PhD in English. He is the author of the Latino Book Awards Finalist Toys Made of Rock and the Connecticut Book Award Finalist, When Love Was Reels, as well as the co-editor (with John S. Christie) of Latino Boom: An Anthology of US Latino Literature.

He has been anthologized in the Norton Introduction to Literature and The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States. His work has appeared in publications such as Callaloo, Boston Review, Calabash, the Pittsburgh Poetry Review, The Quercus Review, and other journals. He has presented at colleges throughout the U.S. including at Harvard, Yale, and Cornel, and at places such as the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC and the Poetry Foundation in Chicago. He has been featured in the syndicated show, American Latino TV, Univision, NPR, and CBS News Radio. A photo of him and his sister as children and lines from his poetry were part of the first ever Latino exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. He has also been a featured storyteller on The Moth. A Fulbright Scholar, he has been the recipient of numerous awards including the NEATE Poet of the Year, NAME CT Faculty of the Year, and AAHHE Outstanding Faculty of the Year. He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of LatinoStories.Com.