Dr. José B. González 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 has presented at colleges throughout the U.S. including at Harvard and Yale universities and at places such as the National Museum of the American Indian. He has been featured in the syndicated show, American Latino TV, as well as Univision, NPR, and CBS News Radio. An audio recording of him reading his poetry has been archived at the Library of Congress. A photo of him and his sister as children and lines from his poetry are part of the first ever Latino exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. A Fulbright Distinguished Scholar, 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.

Education

• Ph.D. in English, University of Rhode Island
• Master of Arts in Teaching English, Brown University
• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Bryant University

Courses Taught

• The Art of Effective Writing (Honors)
• Honors Literature
• Humanities in World Literature
• Composition and Speech
• Writing About Literature
• Public Speaking
• Creative Writing

Selected Publications and Presentations:

• “A Skillet Poem,” Here. 2024. Pushcart Prize Winner.
• “My Father’s Roque,” and “Still Life of Roque, 1975.” 2023. Huizache: The Magazine of a New America.
• “Bragging Stones.” Writing the Land: Windblown II. Nature Culture, 2022.
• “Even Then That Dog.” Here. 2022 Issue. Nominated for Pushcart Prize.
• “The Man of the House,” and “Reading a Manual.” Nat. Brut. Issue 15. Fall 2021.
• “And Then I Read About.” Waking Up the Earth. Grayson Press. 2021. Nominated for Pushcart Prize.
• “My Father, A Reader.” Connecticut River Review. 2021 Issue.
• “Middle School Tremain.” I Sing: The Body Poems about Body and Image. Edited by Rene Saldana, Jr. Juventud Press. 2021.
• “Shopping for Blouses,” and “Third World Worms.” Boston Review Special Issue on Ancestors. 2021.
• “Charlotte.” 2020 Connecticut Literary Anthology. September 2020. Nominated for Pushcart Prize.
• “Conrad’s Heart.” The Chachalaca Review. June 2020.
• “Another Master: Reading Dante’s Canto I,” and “Lust in the Projects: Dante’s Circle II.” Here: A Poetry Journal. 2018.
• “Lines Breaking.” Lines Breaking: The Central American Refugee Crisis. Featured Poem for special issue titled after and featuring original poem. 2018.
• When Love Was Reels (Book). Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press. 2017. Finalist, International Latino Book Award and Connecticut Book Award.
• “Scene with Pancho, The Cisco Kid (1950-1956).” The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States. Eds, Leticia Hernández Linares, Rubén Martínez, and Héctor Tobar. Sylmar: Tia Chucha Press. 2017.
• “Elvis in the Inner City.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. 12th ed. New York: Norton, 2016. Reprinted from Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora and Arts and Letters. Volume 29, Number 3, Summer 2006.
• “Scene with Ricardo Montalban, Fantasy Island (1977-1984).” Pittsburgh Poetry Review. Issue 4, November 2016.
• “Back with Cantinflas: Ahi esta el detalle (1940),” “Scene with Marcelino Sanchez, The Warriors (1979),” and “Scene with Walk Proud (1979).” Kweli Journal. June 2016.
• “Scene from the Ballad of Gregorio Cortez.” Codex Journal. 25 June 2015.
• Toys Made of Rock (Book). Tempe, AZ: Bilingual Review Press. 2015.
• “On a Field Trip to Florence Griswold” (poem). Lay Bare the Canvas: New England Poets on Art. Beatrice Lazarus, Editor. Providence: The Poetry Loft. 2014.
• “Scene with Dolores Del Rio,” and “Scene from Los Olvidados” (poems). Theatre Under My Skin: Contemporary Salvadoran Poetry. San Salvador: Kalina Press. 2014.
• “Hollow Shells Revisited” (poem). Paterson Literary Review. Issue #40/2012-2013.
• “I couldn’t for a teenaged bully’s death” (poem). Bullying: Replies Rebuttals, Confessions and Catharsis. Magdalena Gomez and Maria Luisa Arroyo, eds. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. 2012.
• “Toys Made of Rock,” “Lines Breaking,” and “Dark Cinderella,” (poems). Quercus Review: Without Camels: A Caravan of Latino Writing. Summer 2010.
• “At the Obituary Interview,” and “Dirtied Gauzes” (poems). Naugutuck River Review. Winter 2010.
• Hispanic Heritage Hypocrisy,” Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. October 2009
• “After the Honduras-El Salvador Soccer War of 1969,” “Brown University Librarian Strike—1990,” and “i couldn’t for a teenaged bully’s death” (poems), Acentos Review, December 2008
• ”Fleeing from Work,” “Football for the First Time,” and “The Art of Flipping” (poems), Ocho, Number 15, Special Issue on Latino Poets, edited by Francisco Aragon, January 2008
• “Jesus Colon’s Truth-Seeking Disciple: An Interview with Martin Espada,” Latino Studies 2007, 5, (123-128)
• “Sociology 101: Essay on Illegal Immigration,” The Teacher’s Voice. Spring 2006, Volume 2, Number 1
• “Elvis in the Inner City,” Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora and Arts and Letters, Volume 29, Number 3, Summer 2006
• “In the Company of Books” and “The Thanksgiving of No Mas,” Palabra: A Journal of Hispanic/Latino Literary Art, August 2006
• Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature. New York: Longman, 2006. Co-edited with John S. Christie. Includes original poems, “Autobrownography of a New England Latino,” “Caribbean Fresco,” and “Because No One Should Ask, ‘Chavez Who?’”
• “A Bilingual Conundrum.” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, October 6, 2005
• Entries in Encyclopedia of Ethnic American Literature, on Julia Alvarez, Junot Diaz, Martin Espada, Oscar Hijuelos, and Judith Ortiz Cofer, Greenwood Press. 2005.

Selected Media Appearances

• CBS News Radio Interview on Cesar Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King
• “Poet and Educator, Jose B. Gonzalez on the Immigrant Experience, Poetry, and Education.” Interview with The Day
• Library of Congress Spotlight on U.S. Hispanic Writers Recorded Interview: José B. González
• “Two Poetry Prompts to Inspire Immigrant Teens.” Teachers and Writers Magazine article featuring my his poetry
• “The Poems of José B. González: Coping with Isolation.” Hartford Courant.
• Houston Public Media Interview: José B. González
• KTEP NPR Words on a Wire Interview: José B. González
• Poetry Foundation. Javier Zamora Interviews José B. González, from Letras Latinas Blog
• Kweli Journal. A Black Belt in Words: Ivelisse Rodriguez Interviews José B.González
• Syndicated National Show, American Latino TV
• National Public Radio, All Things Considered
• El Show de Analeh, Univision, Featured Guest Poet

Honors

• State of Connecticut Artistic Excellence Award
• Pushcart Prize
• International Latino Book Award Finalist, Best Poetry Book in English
• State of Connecticut Arts Hero Award
• State of Connecticut Book Award Finalist for Poetry
• CT Latino News as a “Champion of Change” Identidad Latina Latino De Oro (Arts and Culture) Award
• Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award
• Fulbright Distinguished Scholar
• AAHE Outstanding Faculty of the Year
• New England Association of Teachers of English Poet of the Year
• NAME Faculty of the Year—State of Connecticut Higher Education Faculty of the Year