We have sad news to start off this week: Miguel Algarín, poet, professor, editor, and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café has passed away at the age of seventy-nine. The Nuyorican Poets Café confirmed the news with a tweet last night: "With heavy hearts, we bid farewell to poet & visionary Miguel Algarín, founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Miguel was a brilliant poet, an influential professor and leader, and a supportive mentor who inspired and guided generations of artists." In a follow-up tweet, they added, "The literary world owes Miguel a debt of gratitude. He will be greatly missed."
Remezcla posted a lovely tribute to Algarín earlier today, which, among other things, talks about his formative years and the founding of the Nuyorican Poets Café, along with its lasting influence:
Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico on September 11, 1941, his family moved to New York’s Lower East Side in 1950. Algarín has described his upbringing as very culturally minded which set him for a similar path of his own. He studied English, earning various degrees including a PhD in comparative literature, and later becoming a professor of the language, lecturing in Brooklyn University, NYU, and Rutgers where he became emeritus professor.By 1975, his home had become a meeting ground for writers to share their works and thoughts. Expanding to a formal space, Algarín — along with Miguel Piñero, Pedro Pietri, and others — founded the Nuyorican Poets Café, becoming ground zero for a literary movement. During its history, the Nuyorican Poets Café has been a haven for poetry, prose, theater, visual arts, and music, as their weekly jam sessions attest. Algarín broadcasted a radio program from the Café and compiled various anthologies of Puerto Rican literature, founding the publishing house Nuyorican Press as well as Arte Public Press.
We only have one recording of Algarín in our collection, but it's a good one: his July 13, 1978 appearance on the St. Mark's Poetry Project-affiliated series Public Access Poetry, where he read alongside Regina Beck. You can watch that episode by clicking here. We send our sincerest condolences to Algarín's family, friends, and his many fans.
