Meet Carlos José Pérez Sámano | Poet, narrator and librettist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carlos José Pérez Sámano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carlos José, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
My work addresses social issues, particularly those I have been affected by, such as immigration and colonization.
Through my writing, I have deeply committed to present perspectives that are not the hegemonic ones. And through my work as an artist, I open spaces for those who are systematically marginalized. For example, when I had the privilege of being named the Inaugural Artist in Residence for the University of Pennsylvania Museum, my work was entirely focused on creating a body of poetry written by immigrants, some of whom came from very low-income environments. On my poetry, on the other hand, I address political issues that are overseen by majorities. In the opera that I am currently writing, I am talking about themes of decolonization and feminine empowerment.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a writer that was born in Mexico and came to this country in 2016. Before that, I lived in different places including a small village in Tanzania, Africa, where I wrote one of my books.
I write different genres, which is kind of unique in the U.S. where everybody specializes in one specific genre, to grow a market. Not my case. I write whatever I want. I don’t really care about the market. I write fiction, non-fiction, poetry and I am currently writing a libretto which is the text that is used for creating an opera that will be presented in France in a couple of years. Yes, operas take around two years to be produced.
I have to confess that it has been hard to be a professional writer in the U.S., because of what I mentioned earlier about the market. People expect that as a person of color, as an immigrant, all I will write is stories about how “my people” are. The market, represented by editors and agents, is expecting me to be “the voice” of my culture, to write about the stereotypes that are already in the minds of the general public. I refuse to do that. Maybe one day I will, who knows. But today, I write whatever I want, because I prefer to be honest with my vision of reality.
That’s how I have a book of my travels in Africa, another book about the absurdity of taking imagination to the limit, and some poetry books that are all over the place, but beautiful. I believe in beauty. But in a kind of beauty that doesn’t exist, that I create with my weird vision of the world through my words.
I have a small readership but they are extremely loyal to my always changing style.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
OMG, ok, so I was going to do this journey about Mexico City, my city, the belly button of the moon (a way of saying that it is the center of the world) but there are so many American tourists there already, and the prices are getting so high for the local people that it has become almost unlivable, so no. I won’t give you a tour through Mexico City even if I would love to.
Ok, let’s go to Greeley, Colorado, then. Where it is where I live right now. One would think that there is no much to do in Greeley, and this idea comes from the fact that actually there is no much to do in Greeley, Colorado. But I believe that every place can be magical if we carry the magic in our eyes, so let’s imagina a trip to Greeley.
We would start having a very nice walk in the early morning to any of the many parks that we have with lakes. Either the Cottonwood Park, the Bittersweet Park, the Glenmere, the Sanborn one, or my favorite: the Greeley West Park. Then from there I would invite you to have the best croissants from the Little French Bakery, across the street from the University of Northern Colorado, and to have a nice Full Moon tea at Margies Java Joint, or if you are a coffee addict, as many people that I know, you can enjoy their delicious coffee there.
Then we can go back to another park, to continue walking. I really love Greeley Parks. I would take you to visit the houses that are after the train rails. Those houses are very interesting because it is where most of the people that work really hard in jobs that are usually very invisible, live. You would see that their living conditions are not super fancy, actually they can be a little bit uncomfortable, and putting that in contrast with the fact that they work super long shifts at the JBS slaughter house for very little compensation, will makes us think if it is true that idea that working hard will give you a life of comfort and stability.
After that visit, and if you still want to reflect on how things work, we can go to the Midnight Oil Bookstore, a very unique bookstore in down town Greeley where they have the vault of banned books. It is super interesting to see how some of the most important books of American literature such as Toni Morrison’s Beloved or Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak have been banned because some people consider that thinking can be dangerous.
If you are still in the mood for something unique, we can go to the Downtown Oddity Parlor which is an antique shop with very unique objects such as taxonomy pieces, old dolls, crystals, tarot decks, jewelry, etc.
From there I would love to take you to the LINC library that is probably my favorite place in town to write, the architecture is beautiful with a very new redesign of an old newspaper building. And to cap the night, I would invite you to have an old fashion cocktail to the Speakeasy. A very elegant, small, and art-deco style bar that you enter by knowing the place, since it still operates as a true speakeasy from the prohibition times. They prepare the best cocktails in town over there.
If the trip would be one week long, then we would just repeat this itinerary every day, with slight variations.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The support of my family has been fundamental. Coming from a family with no artistic background they always stood up for me even if it wasn’t clear at some moments how the path of a writer would be.
I also recognize the help of teachers, colleagues, readers and friends who have believed in me and my writing. One very special person has been my mentor, the writer Concha Alborg who has guided me in my professional development as a writer for many years.

Website: https://www.perezsamano.com

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Image Credits
Images #2 and #3 (typewriter wall and mural): Irving Viveros, 2021,
Image #8 (workshop): Woody Myers, 2023