Roque Raquel Salas Rivera nació en Mayagüez en el 1985. Es poeta, editor, educador y traductor de la experiencia trans criado entre EE. UU. y Puerto Rico. Actualmente reside en San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sus recientes colecciones de poesía incluyen lo terciario/ the tertiary (2ª ed., Noemi, 2019), while they sleep (under the bed is another country) (Birds LLC, 2019), x/ex/exis: poemas para la nación / poems for the nation (University of Arizona, 2021), y antes que isla es volcán/ before island is volcano (Beacon, 2022), entre otros.
Roque sueña con la libertad futura para Palestina y Puerto Rico. A nivel personal, aspira a someterse a una cirugía de afirmación de género y a celebrar la publicación de su poema épico Algarabía (Graywolf, 2025) con sus amigos. “Recibir esta beca para mí significa el reconocimiento de una labor de muchos años y la posibilidad de costear mi transición. Me siento muy orgulloso de ser trans, ser poeta y ser puertorriqueño y me conmueve el que mis colegas reconozcan mi escritura.”
Roque Raquel Salas Rivera was born in Mayagüez in 1985. He is a poet, editor, educator, and translator of trans experience who grew up between the U.S. and Puerto Rico. He currently resides in Puerto Rico. His recent poetry collections include lo terciario/ the tertiary (2nd ed., Noemi, 2019), while they sleep (under the bed is another country) (Birds LLC, 2019), x/ex/exis: poemas para la nación / poems for the nation (University of Arizona, 2021), and antes que isla es volcán/ before island is volcano (Beacon, 2022), among others.
Roque dreams of future freedom for Palestine and Puerto Rico. On a personal level, he aspires to undergo gender-affirming surgery and to celebrate the publication of his epic poem Algarabía (Graywolf, 2025) with his friends. “Receiving this fellowship feels like recognition for the work of many years and affords me with the means to continue my transition. I am very proud of being trans, being a poet, and being puertorriqueño, and I feel moved by the fact that my fellow writers selected my writing.”