Raquel Salas Rivera is the 2018-19 Poet Laureate of Philadelphia. Their work has appeared in journals such as the the Journal of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), Apogee, PEN Poetry Series and McSweeney’s.
From 2016-2018, they were co-editor of The Wanderer and co-editor of Puerto Rico en mi corazón, a collection of bilingual broadsides of contemporary Puerto Rican poets. This summer, they spent countless hours alongside Raena Shirali, Kirwyn Sutherland, and Ashley Davis organizing a festival called We (Too) Are Philly, inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem, “I, Too.”
They are the first recipient of the Ambroggio Prize from the Academy of American Poets for their dual-language book x/ex/exis. They have authored six chapbooks as well as four full-length poetry books. Their latest book, lo terciario/the tertiary, confronts the PROMESA bill, was on the 2018 National Book Award Longlist, and was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the best poetry books of 2018. In 2019, Birds, LLC will publish their fifth book while they sleep (under the bed is another country), which will include images created by the Puerto Rican artist Mariana Ramos Ortiz.
Raquel Salas Rivera es la poeta laureada de la ciudad de Filadelfia del 2018-19. Sus poemas han aparecido en revistas tales como la Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, Apogee, PEN Poetry Series y McSweeney’s.
Del 2016-2018 fue co-editora de la revista literaria The Wanderer y co-editora de Puerto Rico en mi corazón, una colección bilingüe de volantes de poetas puertorriqueños contemporáneos. Durante el verano del 2018 trabajó junto con Raena Shirali, Kirwyn Sutherland y Ashley Davis, organizando un festival llamado We (Too) Are Philly e inspirado por el poema “I, Too” de Langston Hughes.
Es la primera recipiente del Ambroggio Prize de la Academia de Poetas Americanos (Academy of American Poets) por su libro en español con traducciones al inglés, x/ex/exis. Cuenta con la publicación de seis plaquetas y cuatro poemarios. Su libro, lo terciario/the tertiary, enfrenta la ley PROMESA, fue finalista para el Premio Nacional del Libro del 2018 (2018 National Book Award) y fue seleccionado por Publishers Weekly como uno de los mejores poemarios del 2018. En el 2019, Birds, LLC publicará su quinto libro while they sleep (under the bed is another country) junto con imágenes realizadas por la artista puertorriqueña Mariana Ramos Ortiz.
