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Books by Louis Reyes Rivera
Sanchocho: A Book of Nuyorican Poetry /
Scattered
Scripture /
Bum Rush the Page
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Review of
Scattered
Scripture
Reaching,
Claiming, Lunging for the Universe of Things
Often compared to Arturo A.
Schomberg & Ramon Emeterio Betances, Louis Reyes Rivera is
viewed by many as a bridge between our Pan-American African &
Latino Communities. With this third book of poetry (Who Pays the
Cost, This One For You), he demonstrates why he is called the
"Janitor of History."
Here is testament on behalf of the
disinherited; an oration against the distortions of history;
poetry at its finest. Every stanza & line singes with sound,
sense, rhythm & color, agony & celebration. These 46
poems span 21 years of searching through the rubble of our own
contradiction.
His is not a bitter voice, though deep his
poems cut through pain & hope & human capacity. Their
intention, to confront our refusal to admit what we do to one
another. Their mission, to advance the clearest definition of
ourselves. their aim, accurate & compelling.
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Louis Reyes Rivera--known
as the "Janitor of History," poet/essayist--has been
studying his craft since 1960 and teaching it since 1969. The recipient
of over 20 awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award (1995), a
Special Congressional Recognition Award (1988), and the CCNY 125th
Anniversary Medal (1973), Rivera has assisted in the publication of well
over 200 books, including John Oliver Killens' Great Black Russian
(Wayne State U., 1989), Adal Maldonado's Portraits of the Puerto
Rican Experience (IPRUS, 1984), and Bum Rush The Page: A Def
Poetry Jam (Crown Publishers, 2001).
| Considered by many as a
necessary bridge between the African and Latino American communities, he
is a professor of Pan-African, African-American, Caribbean and Puerto
Rican literature and history whose essays and poems have appeared in
numerous publications, including Areyto, Boletin, The
City Sun, African Voices, and in five award-winning
collections: In Defense of Mumia; ALOUD: Live from the
Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Of Sons And Lovers, Bum Rush The
Page, and his own Scattered Scripture.
Since 1996, Rivera
continues to host a bi-monthly 1st & 3rd Sundays Jazzoetry &
Open Mic @ Sistas' Place (where he also conducts his writing
workshop), in Brooklyn, and has appeared in Jazz clubs and festivals
with The Sun Ra All-Stars Project, Ahmed Abdullah's Diaspora,
and his own band, The Jazzoets. He has recently appeared on
C-SPAN, as part of the REPARATIONS NOW! rally held in Washington, D.C.,
this past August 17th, and on Russell Simmons' DEF POETRY on HBO.
Currently, Louis Reyes Rivera can be heard every Thursday, at 2pm, on
radio station WBAI (99.5 FM), hosting his own weekly show, PERSPECTIVE. |
Contact: Shamal Books, GPO Box 16, NYC 10116
(718) 622 4426 * * * *
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updated 29
May 2008 |
