Miguel Algarín Jr. (11 September 1941 – 30 November 2020) was a Puerto Rican poet, writer, co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café, and a Rutgers University professor of English. Early years Algarín was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and was educated and raised in a culturally-minded household. The love for all things involving culture always prevailed in his family. His family and he migrated to the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City in 1950. While there he received both his primary and secondary education. Algarín went on to study English at the University of Wisconsin (B.A., 1963) and Pennsylvania State University (M.A., 1965). He then received his PhD in comparative literature at Rutgers University. Teaching English at Brooklyn College and New York University, he developed a love and understanding of the works of Shakespeare. Shakespeare's antique tales were the force which motivated Algarín to strive to one day have a place of his own where he could tell the story of where he lives. Eventually, Algarín became a professor of Shakespeare, creative writing, and United States ethnic literature at Rutgers University. In 1973, Algarín was using the living room of his apartment in Manhattan as a gathering place for poets and artists. By 1975, there were so many poets and artists gathering and reciting their works in the apartment, that Algarín decided to look for a more comfortable location. Nuyorican Poets Café Algarín, Miguel Piñero, Pedro Pietri, and other poets rented a location on East 6th street and named it the Nuyorican Poets Café. In 1980, Algarín purchased a building on East 3rd street to expand the café. The Café is now a non-profit organization that offers programs which include poetry and prose readings, theatrical and musical performances, and visual arts exhibits. It is one of the key cultural institutions of the Nuyorican Movement. The Nuyorican Poets Cafe popularized slam poetry. The theater has won over 30 "AUDELCO Awards" and was honored with an Obie grant for excellence in theater. Of the screenplays read in the theater, 40 have been turned into films. The Latin jam session which is celebrated at the Café has been a weekly "Critics Choice" at the New York Press for six consecutive years. The Café also has a radio broadcast on WBAI, where Algarín started the broadcast with his signature "We're live from the Nuyorican Poets Café". Algarín played an important role