Miguel Algarín

Noted Afro-Puerto Rican scholar Miguel Algarín is one of the most prolific, creative, and influential literary figures in the United States and Latin America. Emigrating to the mainland United States with his family when he was nine years old, the diversity of New York City's communities of color shaped the themes of his professional career. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1963 with a B.A. in Romance languages. By 1965 he had earned a M.A. in English literature from Pennsylvania State University. Several years later he completed his doctoral studies in Comparative Literature at Rutgers University where he eventually became chair of its Puerto Rican Studies department. Although highly visible as an educator, he is perhaps best known as one of the founding fathers of the Puerto Rican poetic movement that emerged in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. This poetic movement combined Spanish and English vernacular; and its content focused on aspects of everyday life for peoples of color, along with the contradictions found in being both Puerto Rican and American. He established the Nuyorican Poets Café in 1975, providing an outlet for public performances of the many varieties of poetry emerging from New York City's Puerto Rican and African-American literati. Algarín's Nuyorican Poets Café continues to remain at the forefront of New York's still-thriving poetry scene. "Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café (1994)" was the second of two anthologies edited by Algarín that featured many of the poets that had been nurtured and exposed at the "Café" itself; this anthology was awarded the American Book Award. The vibrant and diverse cultural canvass of Algarín's childhood has been best reflected in the many literary and educational hats he has worn. To date he has written eight volumes of poetry and over four stage plays. Additionally, he continues teaching at Rutgers while maintaining his position as radio host of the Nuyorican Poets Café radio broadcasts * a position he has occupied for well over eighteen years.