NYU English & the Some Contemporary Poetries (SCP) Initiative warmly invite you to Algarabía: A Reading and Conversation with Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, hosted by Urayoán Noel.

When: Tuesday September 23rd, 5:30 PM
Where: Event Space, 244 Greene St

Roque Raquel Salas Rivera (Mayagüez, 1985) is a Puerto Rican poet, educator, and translator of trans experience. The 2018-19 Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, he has received the Premio Nuevas Voces and the inaugural Ambroggio Prize, among other awards and recognitions. His eight poetry books include lo terciario/ the tertiary (Noemi, 2019), longlisted for the National Book Award and winner of the Lambda Literary Award, and while they sleep (under the bed is another country) (Birds LLC, 2019). The Rust of History (Circumference, 2022), his translation of poetry by Sotero Rivera Avilés, was longlisted for ALTA’s National Translation Award, and his translation of Ada Limón’s poem dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is currently on its way to Jupiter’s moon. Salas Rivera is an assistant professor in the Comparative Literature Program at the Mayagüez Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, and Creative Editor for sx salon: a small axe literary platform.

His most recent book, Algarabía (Graywolf, 2025) is an epic poem that follows the journey of Cenex, a trans being who retrospectively narrates his life while navigating the stories told on his behalf.