A way with words: Damien Flores named city's new poet laureate

Participating in poetry slams as a teen led to a literary career filled with accolades for Damien Flores.

He has now achieved the highest recognition for a poet and has been selected as the city of Albuquerque’s seventh poet laureate. Flores succeeds Anna C. Martinez, who served as poet laureate between 2022 and 2024.

The Albuquerque Poet Laureate Program celebrates poetry by recognizing a resident poet who makes meaningful connections, honors and serves the community, elevates the importance of the art form and shares poetry with Albuquerque residents, according to the city’s website. APLP is coordinated by a five-person committee made up of poets and artists. The poet laureate is chosen biannually by a separate seven-person committee that represents the diversity of Albuquerque and its poetry community.

Flores said he was initially shocked when he received a call from Don McIver, Albuquerque poet laureate program committee member, who shared the news. When it finally sank in that he had been selected as the city’s poet laureate, Flores looked back on his accomplishments that led him to this prestigious honor.

“I feel like I earned my mileage,” he said.

The Albuquerque native grew up in Old Town and graduated from Albuquerque High School and the University of New Mexico. He received recognition as a member of the national champion Albuquerque Poetry Slam and the UNM Loboslam teams.

“Our city, and our people, are rooted in artistic traditions that go back generations,” Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement. “It’s part of who we are. Damien has made his mark representing Albuquerque around the country and our community benefits greatly from his ongoing contributions to our unique culture.”

When Flores received the call that he was the new poet laureate, it took him back to his younger days when he traveled from one poetry slam to the next. He was planning to be in Denver for a concert the day before his announcement ceremony on Sunday afternoon. Flores decided to attend the concert and drive back to Albuquerque after the show.

“That’s exactly what I used to do when I was a teenager, when I was first starting out in the poetry slams,” he said. “Poets like Don McIver and a bunch of my other poetry slam friends, we would go on these long road trips with slams and tournaments all around the country over the years. And a lot of times when we had to go to a slam, when it was over we’d have to get right back in the car or the van and drive straight back home because somebody needed to get to work by 8 a.m. the next morning.”

As a teen, Flores aspired to be a published writer. Being dedicated to his craft earned him the coveted 2024 Chatter Fellowship and the New Mexico Writer’s Grant in recognition for his literary and community contributions.

“I’ve known our incoming poet laureate since he was a teenager finding his poetic voice, and I’m eager to witness the depth and vision he’ll bring to our program in his role over the next two years,” Shelle Sanchez, director of the city’s Arts and Culture Department.

Flores has been honored twice as Poet of the Year by the New Mexico Hispano Entertainer’s Association. He also is a recipient of the Lena Todd Creative Writing Award from UNM’s English department.

“The strength of the Albuquerque Poet Laureate Program is that it relies on the strength of the Albuquerque poetry community,” McIver said. “Damien will bring a new perspective of the power of poetry to speak for all of Albuquerque.”

Poet laureate applicants must propose a community service project or literary project that could be an anthology publication or a set of performances with the goal of giving back to the community. Flores decided to use his more than 15 years of teaching experience to develop a poetry curriculum to be taught in New Mexico public schools as his poet laureate community project.

“I proposed a book,” he said. “There’s a few different ways to produce it, but pretty much it is either a single volume or a series of poetry worksheets combined with poems that were written by New Mexico poets and other writers and also teaching guides for teachers for their students. So do an educational poetry lesson plan that could work together with the Public Education Department, public schools and various other school districts, in order to teach poetry but with a focus for middle school and elementary. And tailor the lesson plans to those specific age ranges and different grade levels in order to help promote literacy in New Mexico.”

Flores said it is disappointing to see New Mexico at the bottom of the performance list when it comes to education. He said the goal of his lesson book would be to make writing and reading an enjoyable activity for students rather than a task. He said writing simple poetry, song lyrics, and making the lessons fun rather than focusing on strict academic standards will open up a new world to elementary and middle school students.

“As a teen, I was deeply inspired by the book ‘Hip Hop Poetry & The Classics,’ edited by award-winning poet and teacher Michael Cirelli,” Flores said. “The book is both an anthology and study guide, complete with creative writing prompts, reading comprehension questions, discussion topics, and lesson plans.

“My vision is to create a similar text, featuring diverse New Mexican authors to be used in classrooms to help teachers instruct poetry and students to further understand, appreciate, and write poetry.”