Today we’d like to introduce you to Gerard Robledo.
Hi Gerard, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born the son of a Mexican immigrant father, and a first generation Mexican-American mother. My father died when I was three years old and raised by an alcoholic mother. Though, I was primarily raised by my maternal grandparents. I grew up poor on the south side of San antonio, and statistically not expected to attend or even complete college.
With no familial guidance, I bounced around the country in my twenties searching for myself and a career/life that would make me happy. Throughout most that time, I was a singer/song writer. Though I had been offered a recording contract, I never made any money in music. Once the contract fell through, I was left disheartened and lost with my options for a possible future without a college degree, as my passion has always been in creating art.
At twenty-five years old, I suffered a traumatic brain injury and was in a comma for a brief period. This near-death experience strengthened my resolve in chasing a life of happiness and not wealth. I reminded myself that I was born poor and figured I would die poor. It was then that I decided to focus on writing poetry. Writing poetry was the only thing I wanted to do. It was the only thing to make sense to me. Thus, an English major I became.
I enrolled at San Antonio College and quickly became an honors student before transferring to Texas State University. There I majored in English with focus in creative writing and an emphasis on poetry. I also realized that I wanted to become an English professor. Prior to transferring I became a father to a beautiful daughter. Two months after I graduated, I became a full-time single father with custody of my daughter. I knew I needed to go to graduate school to attain a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing to fully realized my goals and dreams. I wanted to show my daughter that despite adversity, we must persist in following our passion.
I am a good father with an amazing daughter. I am incredibly proud, happy, and lucky to now be an Assistant Professor of English at Palo Alto College and a professional writer. I publish widely, get paid to read poems and travel to other cites. I published my debut book, My Mother, the Butcher (TRP) in September 2025. My book is sold across the country and I have readership even as far as Canada. However, my work as a writer and educator in my community is more important to me. I love showing people how the art of poetry can inspire, unite, and strengthen so many.
I am also committed to the literary arts community here in San Antonio. In August 2024, I co-found and established a monthly literary readings series called Last Writes. It’s held on the last Thursday of every month at The Cottage Irish Pub. Our objective is to promote the literary art and highlight the work of local writers from varying genres who may not get the exposure they need. We also try to have a visiting author from elsewhere in Texas and other states. The reading consists of two authors reading from their books, then an audience Q&A, followed by an open mic.
It’s quite a beautiful life I get to live.
As a poet, I love creating work that is visceral and touchable. I want readers to connect, lose themselves in the writing, to feel the emotions of the speaker as though they are the speaker. I want readers to see the interconnects between the speaker, his family and community, his life experiences, and their own. I hope they find connection..
My book confronts the lasting impact of my childhood trauma, grappling with self-doubt, alcoholism, and the strains of single fatherhood as a Latino exploring survival and identity. Through poignant lyrical poetry, I dissect the complex legacy of familial pain and the struggle to find dignity, self-love, and the strength to carve a new path for my daughter and myself. My work pushes to include a different narrative of who Latino men are and can be out in the world.
Bio:
Gerard Robledo is a Mexican American poet from San Antonio and an Immigrant son. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and is Assistant Professor of English at Palo Alto College. His Spanish language poetry translations, poetry, and book reviews have appeared in Voices de la Luna, The Texas Observer, Oyster River Pages, Solstice Magazine, Poetrybay, Vox Populi, and others. In 2016, Robledo was one of the first 10 poets to be inducted to the San Antonio Poetry Archives. He is the author of the poetry chapbook My Mother, the Butcher (TRP), a Macondo Writers’ Workshop Fellow, and a recipient of the 2020 Eduardo Corral Emerging Latinx Writers Mentorship. He is also the co-founder and host of Last Writes Literary Reading series
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been anything but a smooth road. Being a full-time single father to a young child while trying to focus on writing, publishing, and events was incredibly difficult. I couldn’t really focus on my own events or attending many others until my daughter was ten-years-old. She was finally able to understand why I had to do what I needed to do to have a real-world presence, other than publishing. She’s now seventeen, but it’s not that much easier because being a single parent still affects everything.
This road as a writer is also filled with rejections. Before one poem will get published, thirty others will be rejected.
This was difficult because you start to wonder if your work is even good and if you’re doing the right thing with your life.
There’s also the difficulty with exposure and public readings to share your work and grow support and a following. If no one knows who you are or have never heard/read your work. I had to go to as many readings/open mics as I could and schmooze.
If you are lucky enough to get a reading or publication you will more than likely not get paid for it. It was incredibly difficulty when I was without a full-time job.
Let’s not forget imposter syndrome.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a poet, I love creating work that is visceral and touchable. I want readers to connect, lose themselves in the writing, to feel the emotions of the speaker as though they are the speaker. I want readers to see the interconnects between the speaker, his family and community, his life experiences, and their own. I hope they find connection..
My book confronts the lasting impact of my childhood trauma, grappling with self-doubt, alcoholism, and the strains of single fatherhood as a Latino exploring survival and identity. Through poignant lyrical poetry, I dissect the complex legacy of familial pain and the struggle to find dignity, self-love, and the strength to carve a new path for my daughter and myself. My work pushes to include a different narrative of who Latino men are and can be out in the world.
I absolutely love writing. Be it poetry, creative essays, translations, interviews, or reviews, there is nothing in the world I’d rather do more than write.
Bio:
Gerard Robledo is a Mexican American poet from San Antonio and an Immigrant son. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and is Assistant Professor of English at Palo Alto College. His Spanish language poetry translations, poetry, and book reviews have appeared in Voices de la Luna, The Texas Observer, Oyster River Pages, Solstice Magazine, Poetrybay, Vox Populi, and others. In 2016, Robledo was one of the first 10 poets to be inducted to the San Antonio Poetry Archives. He is the author of the poetry chapbook My Mother, the Butcher (TRP), a Macondo Writers’ Workshop Fellow, and a recipient of the 2020 Eduardo Corral Emerging Latinx Writers Mentorship. He is also the co-founder and host of Last Writes Literary Reading series
I am incredibly proud of these accolades, my book being published, and most importantly, myself for continuing to work despite the hardships and rejections.
What’s next?
As for the future, the possibilities and change that lay ahead are wondrous.
In the immediate future, is my continued promotion and readings in support of my book, My Mother, the Butcher throughout the state, which will be in its second printing. I will be featured in an upcoming episode of the podcast, Platica Y Poetics, and reading from my work at Basket Books and Art in Houston, with Kendall Jackson Fredricks on July 25th.
Last Writes will start its third year this August! I hope to continue providing space for the many incredible voices that go unheard; not only in the artistic sense, but also academically. As such, the goal before the end of the year will be to establish the Last Writes Literary Foundation. The mission is to continue supporting and growing the literary arts community in San Antonio, as well as focusing on the literacy and educational needs through programming and scholarships.
I am currently working on my next book, which I hope to have completed by this September. The process for book publication with a larger press takes some time. With any luck, it will be out for purchase by 2028.
Most importantly, I’m excited for my daughter’s last year of high school, to see where she will continue onto, and watch her become the amazing, empathetic person and artist she will become.
Pricing:
- $16.95 per copy of my book. (Please do not purchase through Amazon)
- https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781680034226/my-mother-the-butcher/
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gerardrobledowriter?igsh=MTh1cDdkdDdmZDdhbg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gerard.robledo?
- Other: https://www.threads.com/@gerardrobledowriter?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
