Jack Agüeros is a community activist, poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, writer, and translator. From 1977 to 1986 was the director of the Museo del Barrio

El Museo del Barrio

El Museo del Barrio, New York’s leading Latino visual arts cultural institution, is located in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, United States, also known as El Barrio. The museum welcomes visitors of all backgrounds to discover the artistic landscape of the Latino, Caribbean, and...

 in New York City.

After serving for four years in the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 as a guided missile instructor, he earned a BA in English from Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...

 and an MA in Urban Studies from Occidental College

Occidental College

Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...

. He began writing essays in the 1970s, and his first poems appear in an early landmark anthology of Puerto Rican

Puerto Rican people

A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...

 literature, entitled Borinquen, published by Knopf in 1974. Agüeros, who specializes in the sonnet

Sonnet

A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...

, did not publish his first book of poetry until 1991.

Agüeros's "work deals with the complexities, challenges, and struggles of the Puerto Rican experience in America."

Publications

• Lord, Is This a Psalm? (Hanging Loose Press, 2002)
• Sonnets from the Puerto Rican (1996)
• Dominoes & Other Stories from the Puerto Rican (1993)
• Correspondence Between Stonehaulers (1991)
• Editor, Immigrant Experience: The Anguish of Becoming American (Dial, 1992)
• Translator, Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos (Curbstone Press, 1996)

See also

• List of Latin American writers
• List of Puerto Rican writers
• List of Famous Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican literature
• Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States
• Before Columbus Foundation
  Before Columbus Foundation
  The Before Columbus Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Ishmael Reed, Victor Hernández Cruz, Shawn Wong and Rudolfo Anaya to be "a multi-ethnic organizing dedicated to promoting a pan-cultural view of America," especially through the promotion of multicultural writers.One of...
  
  

External links

• Biography at poets.org