| Carlos Colón | |
| Birth Date: | 23 April 1953 |
| Birth Place: | Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Death Place: | Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Occupation: | Poet, librarian |
| Alma Mater: | Louisiana State University Shreveport Louisiana State University |
| Genres: | --> |
| Subjects: | --> |
| Spouses: | --> |
| Partners: | --> |
Carlos Colón (23 April 1953 – 30 October 2016)[1] was an American poet. He primarily wrote English-language haiku and concrete poems. During his lifetime, he published over 12 chapbooks and over 1,400 poems published in a variety of journals including Modern Haiku and Frogpond.[2]
He later was nicknamed Haiku Elvis due to the Elvis costume he would wear to do public readings of his poetry.
Colón was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and lived there for most of his life. He earned his bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University Shreveport and a master's degree in library science from Louisiana State University.[1]
He worked as a reference librarian at the Shreveport Memorial Library until his retirement.[3]
He passed away from a heart attack at age 63.
The following is a famous haiku of his:[4]
He has written poetry books with Alexis Rotella.
He has written several "visual haiku", sometimes known as "eye-ku". He was a consultant about visual haiku for the book Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years.[5]
His chapbook Mountain Climbing was dedicated to Marlene Mountain, among other authors.
In Shreveport, a mural called "Let the Good Times Roll" features one of his haiku.[2] Shreveport also had an art project called "Highway Haiku" between 2002 and 2006, where Colón contributed two poems that were featured on billboards in the city. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
He is a founding member of the Northwest Louisiana Haiku Society.[6]
His work has been featured in Tazuo Yamaguchi's Haiku: The Art of the Short Poem film.