Puerto Rican poetry speaks from the island and its global diaspora, in Spanish, English, and Spanglish. Its poets explore colonialism, migration, race, gender, liberty, love, and creativity while opening new possibilities for language and poetic form. From Julia de Burgos and Pedro Pietri to Giannina Braschi and Roque Salas Rivera, this tradition joins lyric intimacy with public defiance, humor, and invention. Explore influential Puerto Rican poets, landmark anthologies, and a historic reading at the Whitney Museum that brings generations of Boricua voices together.
Soy boricua. In spite of my family and in spite of my country—I’m writing the process of the Puerto Rican mind—taking it out of context—as a native and a foreigner—expressing it through Spanish, Spanglish, and English—Independencia, Estado Libre Asociado, and Estadidad—from the position of a nation, a colony, and a state—Wishy, Wishy Washy, and Washy—not as one political party that is parted into piddly parts and partied out. Todos los partidos están partidos y son unos partidos.
Excerpt from “United States of Banana” by Giannina Braschi
Contemporary Puerto Rican Poetry
Watch the Puerto Rican poetry extravaganza at the Whitney Museum on YouTube. The December 4, 2022, reading brought generations of poets together in connection with the exhibition no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane María.
El bello no ser de nuestros cuerpos/Our Bodies’ Beautiful Not Being: A reading at the Whitney Museum curated by Roque Salas Rivera featured a dynamic mix of leading and emerging Puerto Rican poets of the day:
- Giannina Braschi
- Rubén Ramos Colón
- Nicole Cecilia Delgado
- Francisco Félix
- Denice Frohman
- Joey de Jesús
- Yara Liceaga
- Roberto Ncar
- Urayoán Noel
- Mara Pastor
- Willie Perdomo
- Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro
- Verónika Reca
- Gaddiel Francisco Ruiz Rivera
- Irizelma Robles
- Sandra Nia Rodríguez
- Edwin Torres
- üatibirí
- Xavier Valcárcel
- Elisabet Velásquez
Puerto Rican literature anthologies
- Diasporic Journeys: Interviews with Puerto Rican Writers in the United States, 2023. Carmen Haydée Rivera, Editor. Puerto Rican poets and writers: Giannina Braschi, Rodney Morales, Luisita López Torregrosa, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Javier Ávila, José Luis Torres-Padilla, Aya de León, María Teresa “Mariposa” Fernández, Caridad de la Luz, Migdalia Cruz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Raquel Salas Rivera.
- Perspectivas literarias: entrevistas a escritoras puertorriqueñas, 2024. Lorna Polo Alvarado and Judie Collazo Vázquez, Editors. Puerto Rican women poets and writers: Marta Aponte Alsina, Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Janette Becerra, María Bird Picó, Giannina Braschi, Awilda Cáez, Arlene Carballo, Tina Casanova, Mairym Cruz Bernal, Tere Dávila, Yvonne Denis, Ana María Fuster Lavín, Magali García Ramis, Carmen Lugo Filippi, Rosa Vanessa Otero, Helena Sampedro Colón, Sandra Santana, Esmeralda Santiago, Mayra Santos Febres, Ana Teresa Toro, Vanessa Vilches Norat, and María Zamparelli.
- Papiros de Babel: Antología de la poesía puertorriqueña en Nueva York, 1991. Pedro López Adorno, Editor. Puerto Rican poets: Vanessa Droz, Jan Martínez, Mayra Santos Febres, Iván Silén, Carmen Valle, Lourdes Vázquez, Manuel Ramos Otero, Giannina Braschi, and Marithelma Costa.
- Puerto Rico en mi corazón, 2019. Raquel Salas Rivera, Ricardo Maldonado, Carina del Valle Schorske, Editors. Puerto Rican poets: Joey de Jesús, Nicole Delgado, Kenning JP García, Yara Liceaga, Lara Mimosa Montes, Urayoán Noel, Nicole Sealey & more.
- Breaking Ground: Anthology of Puerto Rican Women Writers in New York 1980-2012/Abriendo Caminos: antología de escritoras puertorriqueñas en Nueva York. 2012, Myrna Nieves, Editor. Puerto Rican and Nuyorican women writers including Sandra María Esteves, Giannina Braschi, Nancy Mercado, Madeline Millán, and Corazón Tierra.
Famous Boricua Poems
Enjoy Boricua.com‘s spotlight on Giannina Braschi, author of the Puerto Rican epic poem El imperio de los sueños. To read other classic Puerto Rican poems, visit The Literary Ladies Guide which illuminates the life and works of Julia de Burgos and other talented women writers from antiquity to today. Go to Poetry Foundation to read masterworks by Pedro Pietri such as Puerto Rican Obituary.
Influential Puerto Rican Poets
Here are some of the most influential Puerto Rican poets whose works are a vital part of the contemporary American poetry scene.
- Miguel Algarín (1941–2020): Co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café, queer poet, translator, and scholar.
- Giannina Braschi (b. 1953, Puerto Rico / U.S.): Celebrated for cross-genre epic works in Spanish, English, and Spanglish, such as Empire of Dreams, Yo-Yo Boing!, United States of Banana, and PUTINOIKA.
- Julia de Burgos (1914–1953, Puerto Rico): A forerunner of the Nuyorican movement and one of the most iconic poets of Latin America, whose themes of feminism and social justice influence current poets.
- Sandra María Esteves (b. 1948, U.S.): “Godmother of Nuyorican poetry,” author of Yerba Buena.
- Victor Hernández Cruz (b. 1949, Puerto Rico / U.S.): The first Puerto Rican poet to be published by a mainstream U.S. publishing house (Random House) with his collection Snaps in 1969; Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of American Poets.
- Tato Laviera (1950–2013, Puerto Rico / U.S.): Nuyorican poet and playwright celebrated for bilingual oral traditions and Afro-Puerto Rican cultural pride in works like AmeRíca.
- Willie Perdomo (b. 1967, U.S.): Former New York State Poet Laureate and author of The Essential Hits of Album Minor.
- Pedro Pietri (1944–2004, Puerto Rico / U.S.): A foundational figure of the Nuyorican movement and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café, known for classics like Puerto Rican Obituary and The Masses are Asses.
- Lola Rodríguez de Tió (1843–1924, Puerto Rico): Visionary 19th-century poet, abolitionist, and patriot who wrote the original revolutionary lyrics to Puerto Rico’s national hymn, “La Borinqueña.”
- Roque Raquel Salas Rivera (b. 1985, Puerto Rico / U.S.): Former Poet Laureate of Philadelphia and author of Algarabía and x/ex/exis.
Puerto Rican poetry makes a claim on the world: on who gets heard, whose language counts, and who can imagine a country’s future. In poems of love and exile, in satire and protest, Puerto Rican poets turn private experience into public force. Read the poets, seek out the anthologies, and hear them perform. The beauty and audacity of this poetry live in what it dares to say—and what it makes language do.
Related Reading
Puerto Rican novels, Puerto Rican philosophers, Nuyorican women, Nuyorican poets, Nuyorican playwrights
Editorial note: This article was prepared by the site’s editorial team. The excerpt from United States of Banana is by Giannina Braschi. Last updated October 2026.