C. A. Conrad Explained

CAConrad
Birth Date:	1 January 1966
Birth Place:	Topeka, Kansas, US
Occupation:	poet
Language:	English
Genre:	Poetry
Notablework:	-->
Partners:	-->

CAConrad (born 1966) is an American poet, professor, and the author of seven books. They were based in Philadelphia and later Asheville, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia.^{[1] [2]}

Early life

CAConrad was born January 1, 1966, in Topeka, Kansas, and grew up in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.^[3] Their mother was a fourteen-year-old runaway and father was a Vietnam War veteran, their mother married three times.

Conrad was bullied as a child and stated in the feature film documentary, The Book of Conrad (2015), "People called me ‘faggot’ more than they called me my name."^[4]

Career

Conrad is known for using and inventing the poetic form of "[Soma]tics."^[5] This form is a sort of writing prompt/personal exercise in being engaged in the present moment.

Conrad was one of the two poets in the short film, I Hope I'm Loud When I'm Dead (2018) by filmmaker Beatrice Gibson, also featured was poet Eileen Myles.^{[6] [7] [8]}

Conrad was a 2014 Lannan Fellow, a 2013 MacDowell Fellow, and a 2011 Pew Fellow, they also conduct workshops on (Soma)tic poetry and Ecopoetics.^{[9] [10]} Their book While Standing in Line for Death won a 2018 Lambda Book Award.^[11] Amanda Paradise: Resurrect Extinct Vibration received a 2022 PEN Oakland – Josephine Miles Literary Award.

In 2019, Conrad cancelled their planned appearance at the Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York because of the organizations support of artist Tobias Madison, who was accused of domestic violence.^[12]

Conrad teaches poetry at Columbia University and the Sandberg Art Institute in Amsterdam.

Personal life

Conrad identifies as Queer.^[13] In 1998, Conrad's boyfriend Mark Holmes (aka. Earth) was violently murdered in Tennessee.^[14]

Bibliography

• Deviant Propulsion (Soft Skull Press, 2006),
• Advanced Elvis Course (Soft Skull Press, 2009),
• The Book of Frank (Wave Books, 2010/Chax Press, 2009),
• The City Real & Imagined (with Frank Sherlock) (Factory School Books, 2010)
• A Beautiful Marsupial Afternoon: New (Soma)tics (Wave Books, 2012),
• Ecodeviance : (soma)tics for the future wilderness (Wave Books, 2014),
• PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN (were you high when you said this?) (Worms Press, 2014)
• While Standing in Line for Death (Wave Books, 2017),
• Amanda Paradise: Resurrect Extinct Vibration (Wave Books, 2021),
• You Don't Have What It Takes To Be My Nemesis: And Other (Soma)tics (Penguin Books, 2023),

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Type	Notes
2015	The Book of Conrad	Self	documentary film
2015	Boyland	Jeremiah	short film	^[15]
2018	I Hope I'm Loud When I'm Dead	Script writing / poetry	short film

Further reading

• Soto, Christopher (September 10, 2015). CA CONRAD: ON THE FILM ‘THE BOOK OF CONRAD’ AND HIS LIFE IN POETRY lambdaliterary.org

External links

• Web site: Conrad. CA. CAConrad. Poetry Foundation. 2018-01-07. 2018-01-07.
• Web site: Late 2010 - CA Conrad, "The Book of Frank", reviewed by Eileen Myles . Jacket 40 . . 2018-01-07.
• CAConrad's blog
• CAConrad's Author Page at Wave Books
• CAConrad's (Soma)tic Poetry Rituals

Notes and References

1. Web site: Murtha. Tara. 2012-04-20. The Rumpus Interview with CA Conrad. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20120421214412/http://therumpus.net:80/2012/04/the-rumpus-interview-with-ca-conrad/ . 2012-04-21 . 2021-01-30. The Rumpus. en.
2. Web site: Performance and Talk by CAConrad at Small Arms. 2021-01-30. Toronto Biennial of Art. en-US.
3. Web site: Ridker. Andrew. 2017-07-06. Queer Bubbles. 2021-01-30. The Paris Review. en.
4. News: 2016-03-23. The Ritualized Anger of a Queer Poet. en-US. Hyperallergic. 2018-10-19.
5. Somatic Exercises. U Penn.
6. Web site: Bar Laika and Projections at the 57th New York Film Festival present: an evening with Beatrice Gibson. 2021-01-30. www.e-flux.com. en.
7. Web site: Riddle. Naomi. 2019-08-09. I Hope I'm Loud When I'm Dead – Beatrice Gibson. 2021-01-30. Running Dog. en-AU.
8. Web site: I Hope I'm Loud When I'm Dead. 2021-01-30. LUX. en-GB.
9. Web site: 2018-01-07. Poetry Foundation. CAConrad. 2018-01-07. Poetry Foundation. en-us.
10. Web site: 2013-11-18. 7 Queer Poets You Should Know. 2021-01-30. www.advocate.com. en.
11. Web site: 2020-11-25. Two Poems from an Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics. 2021-01-30. Literary Hub. en-US.
12. Web site: 2019-10-10. Poet CA Conrad Cancels Appearance at the Swiss Institute in Solidarity With Alleged Victim of Domestic Abuse. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191010194227/https://hyperallergic.com/522091/poet-ca-conrad-cancels-appearance-at-the-swiss-institute-in-solidarity-with-alleged-victim-of-domestic-abuse/ . 2019-10-10 . 2021-01-30. Hyperallergic. en-US.
13. Web site: 2021-01-30. The Queer Voice: Reparative Poetry Rituals & Glitter Perversions by CAConrad. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150626005014/http://www.poetryfoundation.org:80/harriet/2015/06/the-queer-voice-reparative-poetry-rituals-glitter-perversions/ . 2015-06-26 . 2021-01-30. Poetry Foundation. en.
14. Web site: I Loved Earth Years Ago - PEN America. 2018-10-19. pen.org. 17 April 2013 .
15. Web site: 2015. BOYLAND by Gabe Rubin & Felix Bernstein. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200930030115/https://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/film-detail?fid=1622 . 2020-09-30 . 2021-01-30. Brooklyn Film Festival. en-US.