Edgar Gomez

Edgar Gomez is an American writer. He is best known for his debut memoir, High-Risk Homosexual, which received a Lambda Literary Award and American Book Award. His second memoir, Alligator Tears, is a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. His essay "Speaking My Language" is also included in Both/And: Essays by Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Writers of Color (2025).

Gomez was born in Florida "with roots in Nicaragua and Puerto Rico". His work has been supported by the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Black Mountain Institute, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). In 2024, he was an NEA fellow for prose. The essay collection explores how Gomez "learned to embrace and celebrate his identity as a gay Latinx man".

High-Risk Homosexual was well received by critics, including starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. Kirkus described the book as a "poignant, vivid, and often hilarious" work that "fearlessly explores intersectional identity and shows what it means to live and love authentically as a gay man today". The following year, the book received an American Book Award, won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography, and was an honor book for the Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award. In the form of an essay collection, the memoir tracks Gomez's life from the perspective of an immigrant family attempting to achieve the American Dream, despite the hardships they experience. Meanwhile, Gomez discusses the jobs he held in bars, restaurants, and retail, as well as a stint in sex work, all while hoping to become a published writer.

Alligator Tears was well received by critics, including starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. The book is also a finalist for the 2026 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography.

Awards and honors

Publications