Edwin Torres | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1958 (age 67–68) |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Literary movement | "Nuyorican" |
| Notable awards | Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award, 1995, Fellowships from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art, the New York State Foundation for the Arts, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council |
Edwin Torres (born 1958) is a Nuyoricanperformance poet. His work incorporates vocal and physical improvisation.[1] He is the author ofAmeriscopia,One Night: Poems for the Sleepy,Yes Thing No Thing, and several other poetic books. He also has produced recordings titledOceano Rise,Novo, andHoly Kid.[2] He is a member of theL=A=N=G=U=A=G=E school.[2]
Torres's parents moved fromPuerto Rico and settled in the borough ofThe Bronx inNew York City. His father died when he was young and he was then raised by his mother and her brother Martin. He received his primary and secondary education in New York.
In 1989 Torres began working as agraphic designer and a year later he discovered theNuyorican Poets Cafe, which inspired his creative instincts. Torres created a movement which he called "Interactive Eclectrcism", which combines movement, audience participation, music and songs. The Nuyorican Poets Cafe not only opened its door for his creation but it also opened the doors to a new world of reading poetry. Torres also created the "Poets Neurotica", where dancers and musicians performed alongside two to four poets. He was a member of "Real Live Poetry" from 1993–99, performing and conducting workshops across theUS and overseas.
Torres has represented New York in the 1992National Poetry Slam, celebrated inBoston, and he has won the Nuyorican Poets Cafe First Annual Prize for Poetry with his poem "Po-Mo Griot".
He has also appeared onMTV's Spoken Word Unplugged and theCharlie Rose Show and been featured onNewsweek, inRolling Stone Magazine and inNew York Magazine. His poem, "I Saw Your Empire State Building" was included in the book,Words In Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam[3] in the chapter which dealt with the poetry slam community's response to 9/11, and his work has appeared in numerous anthologies such asAloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe,[4]Short Fuse: The Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry,[5] andHeights of the Marvelous: A New York Anthology,[6] among many others.
Besides performing at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Torres has performed at theGuggenheim Museum,Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and theMuseum of Modern Art, amongst other venues.
Torres' poems include:
Torres' books include:
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