Patrick Roche

About Patrick

Patrick Roche (he/him) is an award-winning poet, mental health advocate, and Carly Rae Jepsen enthusiast originally from New Jersey. Videos of Roche’s work have amassed over 9.5 million views on YouTube, and he has competed or been featured at multiple national and international festivals, including placing third in the world at the 2016 Individual World Poetry Slam. His work explores mental health, sexuality, body image, disordered eating, family, love, joy, pop culture, drag, mythology, and everything in between. In recognition of his work as a speaker and performer, Roche was named the 2020 Spoken Word Artist of the Year by APCA (the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities).

His solo stage show debuted in 2020 and was featured on BroadwayWorld. It was then selected for Dixon Place’s HOT! Festival, the longest-running festival of its kind celebrating LGBTQIA+ theatre and art.

Roche is the author of the full-length poetry collection, A Socially Acceptable Breakdown (Button Poetry, 2021; Finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing) as well as two chapbooks. His work has appeared in or been published by Button Poetry, UpWorthy, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, NBC LX, MSN, Beech Street Review, Freezeray Press, and his mom’s fridge. He has shared stages with Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of RUN DMC, Pitch Perfect star Brittany Snow, and Abbott Elementary star Tyler James Williams. Roche is a 2014 graduate of Princeton University, where he studied Classics (focusing on Latin and Greek poetry) and Education. He lives in Astoria, New York and loves his dog very much.