Medio Pocillo – A small cup

Medio Pocillo, or “a small cup”, is the title given by Puerto Rican Yusef Álvarez, to his latest collection of poems. Short and powerful, each poem is made up of seven lines.

Puerto Rico is an “unincorporated” American territory. Every Puerto Rican is a US citizen. Yet very few of the islands inhabitants would describe themselves as American; the history of the island is simply far too complicated. Álvarez’s poems address the American and Puerto Rican identities and the conflict between two cultures, which emerges as these identities converge on the island.

Yusef Álvarez was born in Puerto Rico in 1977. He studied Literature, Philosophy and Religion in Osnabruck and in Heidelberg before completing his PhD in Husserl at the University of Freiburg. He currently teaches in the Philosophy faculty at the University of Heidelberg. Medio Pocillo is his second collection of poems.

Language: Spanish/German