Bio

The Long Bio

Charles K. Carter (they/he) is a queer poet, educator, and mental health advocate from Iowa who currently lives in Oregon. They share their home with their artist husband, their best friend, and their spoiled pets. He enjoys film, yoga, and live music. Melissa Etheridge is their ultimate obsession. Carter has an MFA in writing from Lindenwood University. He has served as a volunteer video curator for Button Poetry. Their poems have been featured in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. Carter is the author of several chapbooks, including Salem Revisited from WordTech Editions. His debut full-length collection, Read My Lips, was released in 2022 by David Robert Books. To coincide with the release of their most recent chapbook, Artificial Sweetness (Finishing Line Press), Carter created the video podcast series #SundaySweetChats, which can be found on YouTube. Kelsay Books released his second full-length, If the World Were a Quilt, in late 2023. Their most vulnerable collection, The God of Loneliness, was released by Rebel Satori Press in 2024. Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing is expected to be released in January 2026 from Fernwood Press.

The Shorter Bio

Charles K. Carter is a queer poet who lives in Oregon. They are the author of Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (Fernwood Press), The God of Loneliness (Rebel Satori Press), If the World Were a Quilt (Kelsay Books), and Read My Lips (David Robert Books) as well as several chapbooks. Carter can be found on Instagram @CKCpoetry. 

The Even Shorter Bio

Charles K. Carter is a complex person.