Photo by Wes Davis Photography // @wesdavisphotography

Andru Defeye

guerrilla poet laureate turned actual poet laureate of sacramento.

Andru Defeye is the Sacramento Poet Laureate Emeritus (2020–2024) and a 2022 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. In 2023, he was awarded the Key to the City for his work bridging poetry and public life—creating citywide activations, youth programs, and a locally sourced poetry curriculum that reached over 250,000 students across the Sacramento region. In 2024, he launched the city’s first Sacramento Poetry Week with multilingual curriculum, public transit collaborations, cash-prize contests, and a black-tie gala honoring poets across generations.

He is the founder of Zero Forbidden Goals (ZFG), a creative collective responsible for cultural activations like National Guerrilla Poetry Month, Chainlink Poetry, and The Intersection—projects that have been replicated and studied globally. From 2009 to 2020, Defeye served as Communications Director for Sol Collective, helping shape community-rooted art programming from Sacramento to SXSW. In 2025, he released UNLOCKED: The Laureate Years, a poetry collection chronicling five years of protest, pandemic, service, and personal transformation. Defeye has been named one of Sacramento Magazine’s Top 100 business leaders and nominated for an honorary doctorate from CSUS. He continues to work at the intersection of art, education, and systems change—building movements rooted in joy, language, and cultural strategy.


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“You Are the Wailers of your generation.”

Devon I. Evans, founding member of The Wailers


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“You are carrying on the outlaw tradition.”

Alan Kaufman, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry


“as the month winds down @zfgpromotions reminds us why poetry matters.”

— The U.S. Embassy in Ghana

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“Brava! Guerrilla poets are the new bastions of truth and light.”

-William Devault, Creator, AOL Poetry Place


“A masterful storyteller”

— Submerge Magazine


“He took his open mic to the streets and started a movement.”

-Sacramento News and Review


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“ZFG looks exactly how the Hip Hop community was intended by its founders to look.”

-Domeland


“There is no denying that Andru defeye spills nothing but 100% facts.”

— UndergroundHipHop.com



Awards

2023 Key to the City - Sacramento, CA

2022 American Academy of Poets Fellowship

2021 Sacramento Magazine’s “Sacramento 100” Business Leaders

2021 Nominated for Honorary Doctorate from CSUS

2020-2025 Sacramento Poet Laureate

2020 Best Hip Hop Nominee - Sacramento News and Review

2020 Best Emcee Nominee - Sacramento News and Review

2018 Emerging Arts Leader - Sacramento Arts and Business Council

2016 Block by Block Grant Recipient - James Irvine Foundation and the Crocker Art Museum