David A. Romero
David A. Romero is a Mexican-American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of El Martillo Press. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press), a book reviewed by Gustavo Arellano (¡Ask a Mexican!), Curtis Marez (University Babylon), and founding member of Ozomatli, Ulises Bella. Romero has received honorariums from nearly a hundred colleges and universities in thirty-four different states in the USA and has performed live in Mexico, Italy, and France. Romero's work has been published in literary magazines in the United States, Mexico, England, Scotland, and Canada. Romero has opened for Latin Grammy winning bands Ozomatli and La Santa Cecilia. Romero's work has been published in anthologies alongside poets laureate Joy Harjo, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Luis J. Rodriguez, Jack Hirschman, and Tongo Eisen-Martin. Romero has won the Uptown Slam at the historic Green Mill in Chicago; the birthplace of slam poetry. Romero offers a scholarship for high school seniors interested in spoken word and social justice: “The Romero Scholarship for Excellence in Spoken Word.”
Photo by Damon Casarez
David A. Romero has prepared the following titles for publication:
WE STILL BE: Poems and Performances (El Martillo Press, 2023), A Crown of Flames: Selected Poems & Aphorisms (El Martillo Press, 2023), God of the Air Hose and Other Blue-Collar Poems (El Martillo Press, 2023), the daughterland (El Martillo Press, 2023), Touch the Sky (El Martillo Press, 2023), Central American Book of the Dead/Libro centroamericano de los muertos (FlowerSong Press, 2023), AFRICANAMERICAN'T (FlowerSong Press, 2022), Wildflowers for the Bullies (FlowerSong Press, 2022), Beyond Existing (Say Word, 2016), July, Letters from Jane (Say Word, 2015), and Voices of Highland Park (Say What? Teen Poetry - Los Angeles Public Library, 2012).
Yo soy Romero
Traducción al español de My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press, 2020). Gabriel González Núñez, traductor. Yo soy Romero (El Martillo Press, 2023) es el tercer poemario completo del poeta de "spoken word" mexicoamericano David A. Romero. En un mundo donde le pronuncian mal el apellido o tratan de definirlo por él, Romero opta por darle significado propio al apellido de su familia mediante una exploración de la historia familiar, los recuerdos de la niñez y los relatos de personas trabajadoras. Al hacerlo, Romero cuestiona sus propios prejuicios y los de les demás en referencia a lo que realmente significa ser mexicoamericane y latine. Yo soy Romero se extiende desde lo político hasta lo personal, con un alcance tanto íntimo como épico. El poemario incluye además una guía de diálogo para abordar temas como la pertenencia y la exclusión, el racismo y la solidaridad.
My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press, 2020) is the third full-length collection of poetry by Mexican-American poet and spoken word artist David A. Romero. In a world mispronouncing his name, or trying to define it for him, Romero digs through his family history, his childhood memories, and stories of working people, to create his own meaning for his family's name. In the process, Romero challenges his own prejudices as well as those of outsiders, as to what it means to be Mexican-American and Latinx. My Name Is Romero ranges from the political to the personal, with a scope both intimate and epic. My Name Is Romero also includes a discussion guide for conversations around its themes of belonging and exclusion, racism and solidarity.
Diamond Bars: The Street Version (Dimlights Publishing, 2011) is the re-release of previous material, now published as a leaner and meaner volume. Diamond Bars: The Street Version will make you laugh, cry, get riled up and fall in love. It contains crowd pleasers like "Cheese Enchiladas" and "Diamond Bars." It has been reviewed by the Tony Award Winner Poetri, author of Up the Street, Around the Corner Besskepp, and West Cost Editor of Rock & Rap Confidential Lee Ballinger. It features cover art by Matthew V. Galarza and photographs by Gene Shockley.
BOOKING
To inquire about booking David A. Romero for a paid reading or workshop: