Miguel Algarín

Miguel Algarín (1941-2020) was a Puerto Rican poet, professor, and cultural organizer who co-founded the Nuyorican Poets Café in 1973 — creating the most important literary institution in the history of the Puerto Rican diaspora and laying the groundwork for the modern spoken word and slam poetry movements.

Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Algarín moved to New York as a child and grew up in the Lower East Side. He earned a doctorate in English and became a professor at Rutgers University, where he taught Shakespeare — a radical act for a Puerto Rican from the projects.

In 1973, Algarín began hosting poetry readings in his apartment for Puerto Rican and other Latino poets who had no mainstream venues. These readings grew into the Nuyorican Poets Café, which he ran for over four decades.

Algarín co-edited the landmark anthology 'Nuyorican Poetry: An Anthology of Puerto Rican Words and Feelings' (1975) with Miguel Piñero, which defined the Nuyorican literary movement. He continued to publish poetry, including 'Mongo Affair' (1978) and 'Body Bee Calling from the 21st Century' (1982).

Algarín understood that culture is infrastructure. By creating a physical space where the Puerto Rican diaspora could speak, perform, and be heard, he built the foundation for an entire literary movement. The Nuyorican Poets Café is his monument — a permanent space where the voices of the colonized are amplified rather than silenced.