2008 Woodie Awards
Poet captivates UWT audience with reading
Award-winning poet speaks at the Longshoremen's Hall about racism, heritage and life.
By Kristin Draus
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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What are words worth? That's just one of many questions posed by poet, playwright and sometime actor Carlos Andrés Gómez.
The first major fall event of the year at the Longshoremen's Hall took place on Nov. 7 when Gómez performed poetry from his latest books, "Without Shame," "Finding the Music" and "Shades of Silence." Attendance was high, making it one of the most successful endeavors to take place at the hall.
The audience might not like what he says in his poems, but, according to Gómez, that's not the point.
"I don't want them to understand, necessarily, what my initial, specific intent was, or to agree with me, but I want them to feel something," Gómez said.
At the beginning of the show in the University of Washington Tacoma venue, Gómez listed his muses as Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and George Bush. And, Gómez clarified, the last one isn't exactly a positive influence.
The subjects of Gómez's poems might make his listeners uncomfortable. After dropping the "F" bomb several times at the poetry reading, Gómez stopped to question whether his content was appropriate for any children in the audience.
Dr. Emily Ignacio immediately pointed to the exit and said, "The door is over there," garnering much applause from the audience.
Still, Gómez told the children in the audience to ask their parents what the piece meant, rather than inquire at home about the four-letter words.
"It's what an artist has to struggle with," Gómez later said in an interview with the Ledger. "It's a line of accessibility and integrity. I don't ever want to have to cheapen or dumb down my work.
"But at the same time, I specifically choose pieces to read, especially at these gigs, because I want people to feel in their gut, and really feel it in their core, and take something from it."
Occasionally, as Gómez sang parts of his poems, his rhythms echoed beatnik jazz. He encouraged listeners to snap their fingers. He also asked for claps, nods, raised arms or whatever would show affirmation of his statements. As he declared, "There is a soundtrack to everything."
One audience member showed her enthusiasm in a different way. As Gómez fumbled with reciting the titles of some books he recommended, Carole Svensson, an audience member and assistant director of the UWT library, responded with a hearty shout: "Come to the library! We'll help you find them!"
During the show Gómez spoke on serious or even confusing topics. He said he likes to start shows with a particularly abstract poem. "Everyone's always like, 'Okay, I'm gonna leave now,'" he joked.
His poetry was not always so thought-provoking, however. Despite a distinguished history as a poet for the past several years, Gómez said he never took poetry seriously until high school.
"When I was 16, this amazing Puerto Rican poet from New York came to my high school, named Martín Espada," Gómez said. "I heard him, and it kind of just broke me open. From him I discovered Audre Lorde and Pablo Neruda, Sharon Olds, and all these amazing writers. It was the first thing I found that I couldn't live without."
Gómez worked for about a year and a half as a social worker in Harlem and the Bronx. He then taught in New York City for four years.
"For the last, almost two years now, I've just been touring and doing shows, just an actor and a playwright," he said.
UWT student Tommy Bauer was the first person to consider inviting the poet to the campus. He heard about Gómez in a sociology class taught by Ignacio
"I loved his poetry," Bauer said. "I felt like we really needed - I wanted to bring an intellectual thing here."
Junior Barbara Cartwright initially went to the reading as part of Ignacio's class. "I was interested to see how it related to topics we discuss in class," she said. Cartwright summed up her feelings on the event in one word: "Awesome."
To Bauer, bringing a speaker such as Gómez to the university is important for a number of reasons.
"Students need to break out of their bubbles, get involved in their education," he said.
One attendee of the reading said it exceeded her expectations. "I was really impressed," IAS senior Ailsa Hopper said. "It wasn't abstract. I felt he brought a lot of personal experience to it. It made him more accessible."
Gómez said his poetry is intended to provoke a response from his audience.
"I want them to be moved to a place that pushes them out of where they're usually used to being," Gómez said.
Spoken poetry of Carlos Andrés Gómez
Listen at
myspace.com/carlosandresgomez
His official Web site is:
The first major fall event of the year at the Longshoremen's Hall took place on Nov. 7 when Gómez performed poetry from his latest books, "Without Shame," "Finding the Music" and "Shades of Silence." Attendance was high, making it one of the most successful endeavors to take place at the hall.
The audience might not like what he says in his poems, but, according to Gómez, that's not the point.
"I don't want them to understand, necessarily, what my initial, specific intent was, or to agree with me, but I want them to feel something," Gómez said.
At the beginning of the show in the University of Washington Tacoma venue, Gómez listed his muses as Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and George Bush. And, Gómez clarified, the last one isn't exactly a positive influence.
The subjects of Gómez's poems might make his listeners uncomfortable. After dropping the "F" bomb several times at the poetry reading, Gómez stopped to question whether his content was appropriate for any children in the audience.
Dr. Emily Ignacio immediately pointed to the exit and said, "The door is over there," garnering much applause from the audience.
Still, Gómez told the children in the audience to ask their parents what the piece meant, rather than inquire at home about the four-letter words.
"It's what an artist has to struggle with," Gómez later said in an interview with the Ledger. "It's a line of accessibility and integrity. I don't ever want to have to cheapen or dumb down my work.
"But at the same time, I specifically choose pieces to read, especially at these gigs, because I want people to feel in their gut, and really feel it in their core, and take something from it."
Occasionally, as Gómez sang parts of his poems, his rhythms echoed beatnik jazz. He encouraged listeners to snap their fingers. He also asked for claps, nods, raised arms or whatever would show affirmation of his statements. As he declared, "There is a soundtrack to everything."
One audience member showed her enthusiasm in a different way. As Gómez fumbled with reciting the titles of some books he recommended, Carole Svensson, an audience member and assistant director of the UWT library, responded with a hearty shout: "Come to the library! We'll help you find them!"
During the show Gómez spoke on serious or even confusing topics. He said he likes to start shows with a particularly abstract poem. "Everyone's always like, 'Okay, I'm gonna leave now,'" he joked.
His poetry was not always so thought-provoking, however. Despite a distinguished history as a poet for the past several years, Gómez said he never took poetry seriously until high school.
"When I was 16, this amazing Puerto Rican poet from New York came to my high school, named Martín Espada," Gómez said. "I heard him, and it kind of just broke me open. From him I discovered Audre Lorde and Pablo Neruda, Sharon Olds, and all these amazing writers. It was the first thing I found that I couldn't live without."
Gómez worked for about a year and a half as a social worker in Harlem and the Bronx. He then taught in New York City for four years.
"For the last, almost two years now, I've just been touring and doing shows, just an actor and a playwright," he said.
UWT student Tommy Bauer was the first person to consider inviting the poet to the campus. He heard about Gómez in a sociology class taught by Ignacio
"I loved his poetry," Bauer said. "I felt like we really needed - I wanted to bring an intellectual thing here."
Junior Barbara Cartwright initially went to the reading as part of Ignacio's class. "I was interested to see how it related to topics we discuss in class," she said. Cartwright summed up her feelings on the event in one word: "Awesome."
To Bauer, bringing a speaker such as Gómez to the university is important for a number of reasons.
"Students need to break out of their bubbles, get involved in their education," he said.
One attendee of the reading said it exceeded her expectations. "I was really impressed," IAS senior Ailsa Hopper said. "It wasn't abstract. I felt he brought a lot of personal experience to it. It made him more accessible."
Gómez said his poetry is intended to provoke a response from his audience.
"I want them to be moved to a place that pushes them out of where they're usually used to being," Gómez said.
Spoken poetry of Carlos Andrés Gómez
Listen at
myspace.com/carlosandresgomez
His official Web site is:
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