Oliver Baez Bendorf
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oliverbaezbendorf.bsky.social
Oliver Baez Bendorf
@oliverbaezbendorf.bsky.social
740 followers 230 following 41 posts
🪶 Poet, teacher, 🏳️‍⚧️writer in exile
📖 Consider the Rooster, finalist for the NBCC + CLMP Firecracker Awards
🌿 Language still belongs to me
oliverbaezbendorf.com
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oliverbaezbendorf.bsky.social
Cream background with rounded photo of Oliver wearing a beanie and glasses, standing in front of a body of water at sunset. Header: “About Oliver Baez Bendorf.” Text describes him as a poet, teacher, and writer in exile, with recent book and publication highlights. Link and Instagram handle at bottom.
May 4, 2025 at 1:39 AM
oliverbaezbendorf.bsky.social
Peachy rose background. Header: “Writing with the Land: Embodiment, Place, & Form.” Date: Thursday, June 12. Time: 7–8pm ET. Zoom. Sliding scale. Link and Instagram handle at bottom. Soft periwinkle blue background. Header: “Poetry Manuscript Studio.” Dates: Tuesdays — June 3, 10, 17. Time: 6–8pm ET. Zoom. Sliding scale. Link and Instagram handle at bottom. Lavender background. Header: “1:1 Consultations.” Subheading in bold: “Rolling availability.” Below that: “Generous, focused support on your poems. Line edits, Zoom consults, or manuscript feedback.” Link and Instagram handle at bottom.
May 4, 2025 at 1:39 AM
oliverbaezbendorf.bsky.social
Thrilled and grateful. Thank you, @bookcritics.bsky.social.
A graphic and message celebrating Consider the Rooster being named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry. The graphic includes the cover image of the book. The text reads: ‘I’m so honored. Consider the Rooster has been named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, alongside such brilliant books. These times aren’t just heavy, they’re dangerous. Book bans are on a furious rise. They’re targeting voices like mine, stories like ours. Federico García Lorca was assassinated by fascists for his poetry and his queerness, but through earth and verse, he guides us still. As Rane Arroyo wrote, “The dead tell the living to live.” At the heart of this big book is a very small rooster: Walter Mercado, RIP. I carry a lineage of those who have survived attempts to erase us. Consider the Rooster is my offering to that lineage. It’s my joyful refusal to pipe down. It’s also your invitation to sing. For all of us to move through the portal of what’s dawning. To be recognized in this way—especially now—moves me to a place almost beyond words. Almost 😉. Thank you to the @bookcritics, to everyone who’s held this book with love, and to the rooster in you.’
January 25, 2025 at 3:10 AM
oliverbaezbendorf.bsky.social
Revisiting June Jordan today: "we are the ones we have been waiting for."
Image shows the final two stanzas of June Jordan's "Poem for South African Women," in which the text reads: "And who will join this standing up / and the ones who stood without sweet company / will sing and sing / back into the mountains and / if necessary / even under the sea // we are the ones we have been waiting for."
December 17, 2024 at 7:50 PM
oliverbaezbendorf.bsky.social
Knowing where you come from is its own kind of strength. Here's my Grandpa Baez and my mom in his kitchen, filled with chickens, roosters, and family. My new book Consider the Rooster honors these roots—resilience and courage. 💜

PS: Link in bio to support my fight for justice and accountability.
Photo of a smiling older Latino man wearing glasses, a white T-shirt, and a green beret-style cap, standing next to a smiling woman in a bright straw sunhat and glasses. They’re in a warm, cheerful kitchen filled with chicken and rooster-themed decorations on the walls and shelves.
November 25, 2024 at 8:15 PM