Works
A complete anthology of miguel's work slated for a spring '09 release.
Survival Supervivencia
Arte Publico Press, Houston, Texas (Spring 2009)
Miguel Algarin, literary mastermind, once again invites you to view the world through his personal memoir, juxtaposing happiness with sorrow. With an introduction by Ernesto Quionez, acclaimed writer of "Bodega Dreams", Survival Supervivencia spans Algarin's complete collection of published work over the past 35 years. Through raw prose and brutal honesty, Algarin's poetry takes the reader through an intimate, autobiographical journey that spans his entire life. From his introduction to writing and his insight on New York City life to memories and reflections on loved ones that have passed, Algarin leaves no stone unturned as he bears his soul for all. Survival Supervivencia is a historical tour de force of Algarin's life; public and private.
TIME'S NOW/YA ES TIEMPO
Arte Publico Press, Houston, Texas (1985)*American Book Award Winner
Miguel Algarin, poet of contemplation and action, presents his first book on the intimate relationships we foment as individuals, nations and children of a silent god. Openly political, blatantly blunt, religiously irreverent, Time's Now/Ya es Tiempo takes us from the most recondite comers of the soul through the streets of New York and to other battle fields -- this time in Central America -- and finally to union with the Godhead.
BODY BEE CALLING FROM THE 21ST CENTURY
Arte Publico Press, Houston, Texas (1982)
Algarin's book is a psychic-poetic odyssey into the bionic 21st century. These poems sin, like those of his master, in their breadth, indomitableness, irrepressiveness. But all that is in this book of poems is not Walt Whitman. There's something of Edgar Allan Poe also. And Algarin, from within his 'aleph' of the Lower East Side, encompasses the world in its spatial - Rome, Houston, New York - and temporal dimensions - the past, today and an imagined twenty-first century. But that whole cosmos is seen from the 'aleph' that is his body.
ON CALL
Arte Publico Press, Houston, Texas (1980)*American Book Award Winner
A book of poems on the cutting edge of cultural innovation. On Call is the model of Algarin's esthetics; it transcends the search for identity, roots, heritage. On Call reaches down into the recesses of our calloused sensitivity, awakens us and, in so doing, makes us part of the poetic process.
MONGO AFFAIR
The East Village Press/Nuyorican Press, New York (1978)
A popular early work by a founding Nuyorican poet, Mongo Affair is the experience of our chemical-electrical, physical breakdown and the love and hate for the tar and concrete jungle of Manhattan.
ANTHOLOGIES
ACTION: THE NUYORICAN POETS CAFE THEATER FESTIVAL
with Lois Elaine Griffith Touchtone, Simon & Schuster Inc., New York (1997)
For nearly twenty-five years, poets, writers, artists, actors, directors, and an ever-growing audience have flocked to New York's landmark Nuyorican Poets Cafe, a breeding ground and showcase for some of the most original and energetic new works of theater being produced today, as well as a community gathering place. Now, for the first time, twenty original plays, monologues, and performance pieces that debuted at the Nuyorican are gathered together in this book. Featuring the works of such well-known writers as Miguel Pi'ero, Ishmael Reed, Amiri Baraka, and Ntozake Shange, as well as emerging names such as Frank Perez, Eugene Rodriguez, Gloria Feliciano, and Janice Astor del Valle, this anthology brings together a dazzling and potent chorus of talented voices. Action gives readers a front-row seat for some of the best theater in America and celebrates diversity in the dramatic arts.
ALOUD: VOICES FROM THE NUYORICAN POETS CAFE
with Bob HolmanOwl Books, Henry Holt & Co., New York (1994)
*American Book Award Winner
As the 'New York Observer' writes: 'The poetry corpse is stirring,' it's beating heart is 'a big, dark, brick-walled loft on Third Street and Avenue C called the Nuyorican Poets Cafe'. Welcome to the inside of the explosion! Everyone is in here ' from founding poets Miguel Pi'ero, Pedro Pietri and Piri Thomas to Reg E Gaines, Edwin Torres, Paul Beatty, Hal Sirowitz, Carl Hancock Rux, Maggie Estep, Patricia Smith etc. etc. The classic underground poetry anthology.
NUYORICAN POETRY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF PUERTO RICAN WORDS AND FEELINGS
with Miguel Pi'eroWilliam Morrow & Co., New York (1975)
The publication of this collection of poetry marked an important literary and cultural event. It was the first attempt to collect the poetic work of emerging New York Puerto Rican writers, who define themselves as Nuyorican. The anthology was edited by two of the writers who have played a leading role in fostering and supporting literary activity by this generation. Algar'n intended his introduction to the book as a Nuyorican poetic manifesto postulating the emergence of a new poetry with its own poetic and ideological principles. Algar'n is the founder and proprietor of the Nuyorican Poets' Cafe in New York City.
AWARDS
for literature
AMERICAN BOOK AWARD Winners
*ALOUD: VOICES FROM THE NUYORICAN POETS CAFE (1994)
*TIME'S NOW/YA ES TIEMPO (1986)
*ON CALL (1980)
for theatre
*THE LARRY LEON HAMLIN PRODUCER'S AWARD (2001) at the National Black Theater Festival
*BESSIE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT
*OBIE GRANT FOR EXCELLENCE IN THEATER
*AUDELCO AWARDS FOR DRAMATIC PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR - three consecutive years
INTERNATIONAL RELEASE
TIME'S NOW/YA ES TIEMPO/TOKI WA IMA (JAPAN)
translated by Akira Nogami (1992)
Akira Nogami added a third translation, Japanese, and re-released the American Book Award-winning book. Nogami, a former instructor at Nishogakusha University, asks the reader to 'read the book aloud. English, Spanish or Japanese, whichever language you may use, please vocalize and recite. Raise your voice decisively.'
TRANSLATION
SONG OF PROTEST
Pablo Nerudatranslated with an introduction by Miguel Algarin
William Morrow & Co., New York (1976)
SONG OF PROTEST is 43 political poems by the great Chilean writer, a translation of his controversial book, CANCION DE GESTA, first published in Spanish in 1960. The poems concern a number of countries, among them Cuba, Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia and Guatemala. It is said that the book was banned in the U.S. as an attempt to strip Neruda of any political content, and, today, only his love poems are widely available.
Pablo Neruda was born Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto on July 12, 1904, in Parral, Chile. With an international reputation, Pablo Neruda was also committed to politics and social reform. Often referred to as the 'poet of enslaved humanity,' he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for literature in 1971. He died in Santiago, Chile on Sept. 23, 1973.