Shaggy Flores

Infobox writer
name = Shaggy Flores


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birthdate = January, 1973
birthplace = New York City
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occupation = Poet, Writer, Publisher, African Diaspora Scholar, Activist
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period = 1993 - present
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movement = Nuyorican, Slam, Spoken Word, Performance Poetry
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website = http://www.shaggyflores.com

"Shaggy Flores" is a Nuyorican Poet, Writer and African Diaspora Scholar.

Early years

Shaggy Flores, was born and raised in the Spanish Harlem (NYC) then later in Puerto Rico and finally Springfield, Massachusetts. He received his primary and secondary education in Puerto Rico and Massachusetts. As a child, growing up in Robinson Gardens Housing Projects, he was heavily exposed to the work of the early Nuyorican Poets, his mother being a poet herself. Later in junior high and high school he showed a proficiency for writing and for creating short stories that depicted the Puerto Rican experience. He graduated from the High School of Commerce and eventually met a recruiter for the University of MA (BCP Program) who helped him continue his studies.

During the early nineties at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he was heavily involved with student politics, resurrecting old student organizations and creating new ones in the process. It was during this period that his work as a Nuyorican poet became known and he began to find elder Nuyorican Poets who could serve as mentors.

He completed his education at Umass with a degree in the African Diaspora and by creating the annual Voices for the Voiceless poetry concert. Voices is one of the largest Diaspora poetry concerts in the Northeast, bringing nationally established African Diaspora writers to the five-college community for one night of poetry. It was at this event that he established the Louis Reyes Rivera lifetime achievement award to honor legendary artists.

Early Debut

Shaggy Flores made his early poetry debut by performing his work at the first North East Latino Student Conference in Umass-Amherst in the early nineties then later for a series of events produced by the Puerto Rican Student organization. He was a member of the Umass poetry society and traveled heavily to New York to perform at events such as the annual Muevete Conference held at Hostos college and later the National Poetry Slam held in Providence, RI.

Early readings would include performances at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Columbia University, Smith College, Mt. Holyoke, Springfield College, UNC Chapel Hill and for a poetry troupe created by Louis Reyes Rivera and Felipe Luciano call the Wordquestra in New York City. He would later get to meet and perform with many of the early Nuyorican writers who inspired him to become a writer.

His poems and interview have been published in journals, books, websites, and anthologies.

Writing History and Bio

He’s the author of Sancocho - A Book of Nuyorican Poetry, can be found in The Anthologies Role Call and Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, both edited by Tony Medina [the latter co-edited with Louis Reyes Rivera] . He is one of the founders of the annual Voices for the Voiceless Poetry Concert which occurs in the five college Umass-Amherst area.

He was a member of the 2000 National Hartford Slam team and competed in the 2001 Nationals as an independent competitor representing Springfield, MA. Shaggy also performed at the National Poetry Slam 2001 Latino showcase and in the NPS African American Showcase in Seattle, Washington. Mr. Flores was also the one of the first Latino poets along with Raul Salinas to feature at the prestigious Austin International Poetry Festival.

Shaggy is also the founder of Dark Souls Press and Aristotle’s Playground, a web and print design firm.

Currently

Shaggy Flores resides in the Mid-Atlantic area where he is at work on various national writing campaigns and is completing a Masters in History Degree. He is an active and proud member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. and lectures around the country on issues pertaining to the African Diaspora. Shaggy is also completing his next book of poetry Obatala's Bugalu: A Nuyorican Book of Sights and Sounds to be released in the summer of 2008.

ee also

*Puerto Rican literature
*List of famous Puerto Ricans
*Performance poetry
*Nuyorican Movement
*List of Puerto Rican writers
*Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
*Black history in Puerto Rico
*Nuyorican Poets Cafe

External links

* [http://www.shaggyflores.com/ Nuyorican Negritude - Official Website]

External references

* [http://postcolonial.org/index.php/pct/article/view/286/95 Postcolonial Journal]
* [http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/377/37718201.pdf CENTRO Academic Journal: Puerto Rican Poetry of The Last Four Decades]
* [http://www.shaggyflores.com/Second%20Issue%20of%20Hostos%20Review%20-%20New%20Nuyorican%20Literature.pdf Hostos Review Journal]
* [http://www.shaggyflores.com/Shaggy%20Flores%20Labor%20Heritage%20Article.pdf Labor's Heritage Journal]
* [http://www.latinopromo.com/sflores.htm Latino Promo Booking Agency]
* [http://www.performingprofound.com/thesisproposal.pdf A History and Interactive Playground of Puerto Rican Performance Poetry]
* [http://www.amherst.edu/~lacausa/current.htm Amherst College Article]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SsZx4w5nbI Nuyorican Poets Cafe Performance]
* [https://cms.amherst.edu/media/view/1415/original/LaCausaSpring06Newsletter.pdf Voices for the Voiceless Article]
* [http://media.www.fsunews.com/media/storage/paper920/news/2007/02/12/News/Latino.Poet.Educates.Students-2711084.shtml?sourcedomain=www.fsunews.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com Florida State University Article]
* [http://halogen.note.amherst.edu/~astudent/2005-2006/issue14/news/07.html Voices Article]
* [http://freedomroad.org/content/view/361/68/lang,en/ Sample of Work: Poem of the month]
* [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=gjr&q=%22shaggy+flores%22&btnG=Search Google Notable Search]