Hailing from East San Jose, California, by way of Guerrero, Mexico, Yosimar Reyes quickly made a name for himself at the tender age of sixteen, exploding onto local Bay Area stages and captivating his audiences with deeply moving spoken word performances.
Through his inspiring narratives and indomitable presence, Yosimar continues to be a leading voice in contemporary poetry and an important figure for queer and undocumented immigrant communities. He harnesses the power of storytelling to generate cultural wealth and champion immigrant narratives.
Reyes’ repertoire has since evolved to include nationally-acclaimed keynotes, writing workshops, and his one-man show, “Prieto,” a coming-of-age story that explores subjects like migration, sexuality, and socio-economic struggle—all while empowering his audiences to tap into their own creative potential.
In addition to being the first-ever undocumented poet to achieve Santa Clara County Poet Laureate status, Reyes was chosen to be a 2024 Creative Ambassador by the City of San Jose, The Advocate named him one of “13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World,” and Remezcla included him on their list of “10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know.”
His writing has appeared in publications such as MARIPOSAS: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino Poetry, Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings and the forthcoming, UndocuPoetics.
