'Nuyorican' poet to read at Bates

Poet Jaime “Shaggy” Flores, known for his work with the new generation of “Nuyorican Poets” (the term referring to a Puerto Rican living in New York or one who has lived in New York and returned to Puerto Rico), will give a poetry performance titled “Diaspora in My Art: Artistic Perspectives on Africa in the Americas” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, in Room 104 of the Olin Arts Center at Bates College. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

The founder of the Urban Arts Project and the Dark Souls Art Collective, two groups that serve as a network for African Diaspora artists, Flores refers to himself as “a Nuyorican, bilingual, Spanglish-speaking, AfroTaino, revolutionary and santero.” He is also the founder of the annual “Voices for the Voiceless” poetry concert that unites the most recognized black and Latino poets from throughout the United States.

Flores follows in the tradition of poets Arturo Schomburg and Louis Reyes Rivera and has performed with such poets as Sandra Maria Esteves, Tony Medina, Carl Hancock Rux, Steven Bonafide Rojas and Edward James Olmos.

Flores’ visit to Bates College is sponsored by the Johnson Foundation, the Mellon Learning Associates program, the English department and the African American studies program. For more information, call 207-786-6461.