Who I Am

My name is Vera Gómez, and I’m a firm believer in the power of words.

I am a workshop facilitator, performance poet, and a teaching poet through the Greenville SmartArts’ program. I am also a founding member of the first Greenville Poetry Slam team that won the 1998 Southeast Regionals and was the first, all-woman team at Nationals.

My collection of poems, Barrio Voices, was published in 2008. My work has also appeared in State of the Heart: Carolina Writers on the Places They Love, Volume II; Yemassee; KaKaLak: Anthology of Carolina Poets; Millennial Sampler/South Carolina Poetry Anthology; Ties That Bind and Quintet.

In a past life, I worked as a travel site writer, a public information officer, and in television and radio media as a news promotion producer. I earned a BA in Television with a minor in English (Technical Writing) from Texas Tech University. Currently, I work as a markets communications specialist in the Sustainability practice of a Big Four accounting firm and I live in Greenville, SC.

Why I Write

As a first-generation child of immigrants, I consider myself a habitual border-crosser between my US-American upbringing and Mexican heritage.

My parents immigrated to the US in the 50s. I was born in Lubbock, Texas and raised at a time when Mexican kids weren’t supposed to go to college.  Juan, my dad, and Isabael, my mom, made sure we were going to get an education since as kids their dreams and schooling got interrupted. Yes, they upheld their American dream (both became legal residents) that each of their kids would have a better life than they did.

So , why do I write?

It’s simple – to share their story, to make sense of my story, to express what is right and wrong in the world; to help my students realize that we are really more alike than unalike as humans.

What I’ve Done

Awards, Publications and Community Involvement

  • Read Up Greenville, Improv Poetry – October 16, 2017
  • Crashtest, Interview with Vera Gomez by Elena Castro, October 11, 2017
  • Poetic Conversation: Listen/Escucha Celebrating Hispanic Heritage – September 7, 2017
  • Ceasar Chavez Talk, Greenville Chautauqua Hughes Library – May 2, 2017
  • City of Columbia Poet Laureate Poetry Project (columbiapoet.org) – April 1, 2017
  • 2017 Indie Grits festival, Visiones, a multidisciplinary film and arts festival (Latinx / Latin American artists) – April 2017
  • Expressive Voices Reading, Presbyterian College – November 15, 2016
  • Monday Night Poetry & Music, Charleston, SC – October 24, 2016
  • Expressive Voices Reading, Furman University – September 27, 2016
  • Poetic Conversations: Translations Honoring National Hispanic Heritage Month – September 14, 2016
  • Writer Conversation on Sarah Blackman’s novel Hex at M. Judson – April 1, 2016
  • Pints and Poets Reading, Hub City Tap House – February 17, 2016
  • Poetry on the Trail – October 24, 2015
  • Peace Voices: Hispanic Workshop/Reading – September 14, 2015
  • Literary Roots Reading – August 2015
  • Palmetto Luna “Mana a Mano,” Greer International Festival – April 11, 2015
  • Palmetto Luna TRESome – August 28, 2014
  • Emrys Reading Room – May 18, 2009
  • Poetic Explosion – Furman University – April 23, 2009
  • Charleston Public Library – Poets Series – April 25, 2009
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