Ceasar K. Avelar
Ceasar K. Avelar is the second poet laureate of Pomona, CA. As a poet, Ceasar is dedicated to the working class. His poems speak the truth, not only to people in a position of power, but also to the everyday person that views the working class as a stigmatized identity. Ceasar is of Central American descent. His mother is an immigrant from Honduras and his father is from El Salvador. Ceasar’s poems tell the stories of workers of color, their families and the obstacles they face in the United States; not just as workers, but as immigrants living in a country where their existence is commodified.
Ceasar is the resident poet for Café con Libros Press, a cultural center and bookstore. He runs Obsidian Tongues open mic, which strives to bring poetry, art, and free expression to the community of Pomona.
“Ceasar K. Avelar swings a Central American hammer in poems that sing the working life while also decrying the gaps and empties. He’s a powerful voice from the Central American migrant stream essential to the ‘essential workers’ risking life and family to keep economies going, even in pandemics.”
—Luis J. Rodriguez, former Los Angeles’ Poet Laureate, author of Borrowed Bones: New Poems from the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles
"Ceasar K. Avelar’s poetry is exquisite, fierce and courageous. A harrowing denunciation of the exploitation endured by today’s immigrant factory workers, but more importantly, a testament of the worker’s indomitable spirit to subvert their dehumanization while dreaming and asserting the possibility of a life of respect and hope."
—Angelina Sáenz, Author of Edgecliff
“Ceasar K. Avelar writes for the people in the trenches, for the marginalized, for those who sometimes feel as though they have no voice. The power of his words jump from the page. He is not writing to impress, he is writing to inspire.”
—Jeffery Martin, author of Ripples, Shadows & Huddled Scraps
“When the particles settle, Ceasar K. Avelar will go down as one of the greatest working-class poets of our time.”
—William A. Gonzalez, award winning author of Black Bubblegum
BOOKING
To inquire about booking Ceasar K. Avelar for a paid reading or workshop: