“The young people… of Puerto Rico…they are every poem I’ve ever written with the hope of revolution and everyone who ever died for the right cause.”
- Name: Raquel Salas Rivera
- Born: 1985
- From: Puerto Rico; Studied in Phildelphia, PA, USA
- Pronouns: He/him
- Contribution/Impact: He is a bilingual poet who writes about his experiences being an immigrant to the US and the colonialism of Puerto Rico, as well as being a queer Puerto Rican and non-binary in Philadelphia. Lo terciario focuses on the Puerto rican debt crisis. While he was at Penn, he created a poetry festival called We (too) are Philly, to feature poets of color and desegregate audiences, and put in in areas of Philly that normally don’t get poetry readings.
- Occupation: Poet, Author
- Known For: Caneca de anhelos turbios (2011), lo terciario (2019)
- Awards: Best known works are Caneca de anhelos turbios, tierra interminente, lo terciario; The Fourth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia in 2018
- Interesting Facts: Adopted the Spanish word ‘buchipluma’ to mean non-binary feathered butch as his gender identity.
Raquel is a non-binary poet from Puerto Rico. He has a BA from Universidad de Puerto Rico, and a PHD from University of Pennsylvania in Comparative literature and literature theory. When he recites his poetry, he only reads in Spanish and leaves most of it untranslated to show the struggle of immigrants who don’t understand the new language. He has written many works about Puerto Rico and his experience as an immigrant. He does poetry readings that showcase the immigrant experience, and created a poetry festival to amplify poets of color and work to desegregate poetry and its audiences.
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