Raquel Salas Rivera is a Puerto Rican poet and translator of trans experience born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Among his six poetry books are
lo terciario/ the tertiary (Noemi Press, 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), which inspired the title for
no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He edited the anthologies
Puerto Rico en mi corazón (Anomalous Press, 2019) and
La piel del arrecife: Antología de poesía trans puertorriqueña (La Impresora & Atarraya Cartonera, 2023) and the literary journal
The Wanderer. His translation of Ada Limón’s poem dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will be traveling to Jupiter’s moon in 2024. Salas Rivera’s honors include being named poet laureate of Philadelphia, the Premio Nuevas Voces, and the inaugural Ambroggio Prize. He holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature and literary theory.
Sponsored by the department of English and creative writing, the department of modern languages, and the Dee Hull Everist Visiting Speaker Fund.