The Frost Place is pleased to announce that the inaugural Paul Monette Fellow at the Frost Place Poetry Seminar is Octavio R. González.
About Octavio R. González
Octavio R. González is a queer Dominican American poet and scholar who teaches at Wellesley College. He’s published two books of poetry (Limerence, 2023; The Book of Ours, 2009), as well as a monograph of literary criticism (Misfit Modernism, 2020). His poetry and creative nonfiction appear in The Latino Book Review, OCHO, Lambda Literary Anthology, Puerto del Sol, and Indolent Press, among other venues.
A Poem
Elegy for Shaigo
I hope you have light on your journey.
Trudging in the dark. Miner’s
helmet dimly lights
your jagged path
underground.
Alone, you walk
endlessly.
No.
You don’t
walk endlessly. The dim
yellow light flutters as
if a canary.
You don’t rest.
It feels like a century
but your journey is long and isn’t over.
Though it feels, your feet
are weary, it feels like you’ve been
marching forever.
But the shadowy light,
the whisper of yellow
flutters around your ears.
It’s been years
since you heard a sound
unless the dragging of feet
is a sound:
marching all around
you yet you march alone.
You don’t carry a pick-axe
though you were always armed.
But this is another journey.
Don’t look down. Small
shadowy wings
like a baby’s hands
light your jagged path
during this dark parade.
Your feet drag on as
you hear the whisper of wings.
You can almost hear this
song.
On Being Named Pardlo Fellow
I am honored to be selected as the 2026 Paul Monette Fellow at the Frost Place. Monette’s legacy as an LGBT poet, memoirist, and activist against HIV/AIDS erasure is a profound influence on my work.
Octavio R. González
About the Fellowship
Paul Monette (1945 – 1995) was an American author, poet, and activist who wrote about sexual identity and the AIDS crisis. He won the National Book Award for Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story in 1992. He died of AIDS in 1995. An anonymous donor funds the fellowship.