Nuyorican Poets Cafe

Nuyorican Poets Café is a non-profit organization in Alphabet City, Manhattan. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican art movement in New York City, USA, and has become a forum for poetry, music, hip hop, video, visual arts, comedy and theatre.

History
Founded circa 1973, the Nuyorican Poets Café began operating in the East Village apartment of writer, poet, and Rutgers University professor Miguel Algarín with assistance from co-founders Miguel Piñero, Bittman "Bimbo" Rivas, and Lucky Cienfuegos.

By 1975, the number of poets involved with the venture outgrew that space, so Algarín rented an Irish pub, the Sunshine Café on East 6th Street, and they christened it "The Nuyorican Poets Café". Some of the featured poets at this time included, founders Miguel Algarin, Miguel Piñero and Lucky Cienfuegos. Also poets, Jorge Brandon aka El Coco que Habla, Sandra Maria Esteves, Pedro Pietri, Bittman (Bimbo) Rivas, Victor Hernandez Cruz, Tato Laviera, Piri Thomas, Jesus Papoleto Melendez, and Jose Angel Figueroa were some of the poets featured during the mid to late 1970's. By 1980, the overflow of audiences led them to purchase their current building at 236 East 3rd Street so as to expand their activities and programs. During this time the second wave of Nuyorican Poets, featured at the café, emerged including Nancy Mercado and Martin Espada.

In explaining the philosophy of the venture, co-founder Algarín said: We must listen to one another. We must respect one another's habits and we must share the truth and the integrity that the voice of the poet so generously provides.

Poets
In addition to originating the mobile New York freestyle battle program Braggin' Rites, Nuyorican Poets Café counts poetry activists such as Bob Holman, Saul Williams, Sarah Jones, and Beau Sia as former slammasters.

In the 1990's a new group of Nuyorican poets and performing artists emerged to read at the café. Some of these artists include Willie Perdomo, Edwin Torres, Caridad de la Luz aka La Bruja, Mariposa Maria Teresa Fernandez and Shaggy Flores. Around the same time, 1996, Emanuel Xavier also emerged from the neo-Nuyorican poetry movement. Others who at one time or another have performed at the Café include, Esmeralda Santiago, Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, Ntozake Shange, Giannina Braschi, Zoraida Santiago, Keven Powell and Daniel Dumile.

Some Nuyorican poets who continue to read and perform at the café include, Sandra Maria Esteves, Tato Laviera, Jesus Papoleto Melendez, Nancy Mercado, Edwin Torres, Lemon, Bonafide Rojas, Caridad de la Luz aka La Bruja, Mariposa Maria Teresa Fernandez, and Jack Castillo. In June 2002, Nuevo Flamenco guitarists Val Ramos opened for three-time Puerto Rican Grammy nominee Danny Rivera at the Nuyorican Poets Café. Algarín, now retired from Rutgers, remains a board member of the Nuyorican Poets Café.

Visual Artists
Visual artists which exhibited their work at the café include interrnational documentary photographer Manuel Rivera-Ortiz.

Documentaries
In 1994, Nuyorican Poets Café was the subject of a 14-minute documentary entitled Nuyorican Poets Café. Directed, produced and edited by Ray Santisteban, the documentary features founder Miguel Algarin along with Willie Perdomo, Ed Morales, Pedro Pietri, and Carmen Bardeguez Brown. Nuyorican Poets Café won "Best Documentary" at the 1995 New Latino Filmmaker's Festival in Los Angeles, California.

In 1996, the Nuyorican Poets Café Poetry Slam Team was the subject of a feature length documentary entitled SlamNation. Directed by Paul Devlin, the documentary follows Nuyorican Poetry Slam founder Bob Holman and the poets of the 1996 Nuyorican team (Saul Williams, Beau Sia, Jessica Care Moore and muMs) as they compete in the 1996 National Poetry Slam held in Portland, OR. The documentary also features performances by Marc Smith, Taylor Mali, Patricia Smith, among others.