南希梅尔卡多荣获垮掉派终身桂冠诗人称号

Poetics Multilingual Mag

祝贺南希！

南希·梅尔卡多是获奖诗人、剧作家、编辑、学者与文化领袖，她的创作深刻影响了当代美国文学以及纽瓦‑波多黎各（新波多黎各）文学运动。

辉煌的职业生涯为她赢得多项重磅荣誉：获哥伦布前基金会美国图书终身成就奖；入选弗雷德里克·道格拉斯家族倡议与美利坚大学反种族主义研究及政策中心评选的《弗雷德里克·道格拉斯200人》榜单，该名单表彰200位在世、作品传承道格拉斯精神与理想的杰出人士。

主要荣誉履历

- 阿图罗·阿方索·朔姆堡奖（教育平等与卓越协会）

- 罗格斯大学拉丁美洲艺术与文化奖

- 纽瓦克公共图书馆西语裔研究信息中心表彰

- 曼哈顿区长办公室颁发艺术贡献嘉奖

- 拉丁裔五十佳组织卡门·维加·里维拉倡导奖

她现任哥伦布前基金会理事、生态诗歌网（EcoPoetry.org）副编辑，同时担任美国诗学博物馆特邀策展人。

2020年12月新冠疫情期间，梅尔卡多发起并主持米格尔纪念委员会，致敬纽瓦‑波多黎各诗人咖啡馆创始人米格尔·阿尔加林。在她牵头下，委员会举办一场长达六小时的国际线上纪念活动，汇集全球诗人艺术家，联动纽约十余家顶尖文艺机构同步直播，彰显阿尔加林深远的文化影响力。

她的作品在美国本土与海外广泛传播，诗歌朗诵亮相诸多国际知名平台：联合国妇女地位委员会、林肯中心、惠特尼美国艺术博物馆、法国南特大学、美国多族群文学研究会、杰拉尔丁·R·道奇诗歌节、古巴哈瓦那美洲之家（受古巴著名诗人罗伯托·费尔南德斯·雷塔马尔邀请出席）；同时也在纽约公共剧院、市政厅、纽瓦‑波多黎各诗人咖啡馆、高线公园等知名文化场地演出。

作为受人敬重的编辑与文学推动者，她深耕地下文艺刊物《Long Shot》十一年，曾任该刊主编。

个人著作：《关乎疯狂》《三姐妹》；主编文集《倘若世界属于我》。

具有里程碑意义的成果：主编首部纽瓦‑波多黎各女性作家双卷本选集，最初刊载于纽约市立大学亨特学院线上文学刊物，集中展现该群体丰富多元的文学声音。

她还编纂两部纪念米格尔·阿尔加林的专题文集，集结全美六十余位作家艺术家撰稿，卡罗琳·福谢、安娜·卡斯蒂略等知名文学人士均有供稿。

梅尔卡多本人的诗歌、小说、散文多次收入各类选集，已是当代美国文坛不可或缺的代表性声音。

除文学成就之外，她在戏剧领域建树颇丰：担任新泽西青年剧团艺术总监十年（剧团获新泽西州艺术委员会扶持），独立创作并执导七部原创戏剧，代表作《雪中棕榈》《永远的大地》《远离》等，剧目在新泽西表演艺术中心等一流剧场上演。

其中《远离》由美国疾控中心定制，面向有色裔青年开展艾滋病防治公益宣传，剧本免费向全美剧团与社区机构开放，有英语、西班牙语双语版本，在美国本土及波多黎各公演。

她的创作还登陆广播、电视媒介：纪录片《变化的叙事：黑人女性作家解构全球化》、公共电视台《诗歌短评》、美国国家公共广播电台《美国铭记9·11》等节目均收录其作品。

疫情期间，入选纽约全城公共艺术项目“纽约下一步行动”，受邀创作诗歌《致纽约的一封情书》，赞颂纽约坚韧的城市精神。《拉丁裔领袖》杂志将她列为纽约波多黎各文学运动最具声望的人物之一。

南希·梅尔卡多拥有纽约州立大学宾厄姆顿分校博士学位，目前在纽约市担任副教授。

Nancy Mercado is an award‑winning poet, playwright, editor, scholar, and cultural leader whose contributions have profoundly shaped contemporary American literature and the Nuyorican literary movement. Her distinguished career has been recognized with the prestigious American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Before Columbus Foundation. She was also named one of The Frederick Douglass 200 by the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, honoring 200 living individuals whose work embodies the enduring legacy and vision of Frederick Douglass.

Mercado’s distinguished honors include the Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Award from the Association for Equality and Excellence in Education, the Rutgers University Center for Latino Arts and Culture Award, recognition from the Newark Public Library's Hispanic Research and Information Center, a Citation from the Manhattan Borough President's Office for her artistic contributions, and the Carmen Vega Rivera Advocacy Award from Latina 50 Plus. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Before Columbus Foundation, is an Assistant Editor for EcoPoetry.org, and has served as Guest Curator for the Museum of American Poetics.

In December 2020, amid the challenges of the COVID‑19 pandemic, Mercado founded and chaired the Miguelabration Committee to honor the life and legacy of Miguel Algarín, founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Under her leadership, the committee organized an unprecedented six‑hour international virtual celebration featuring poets and artists from around the world. The landmark event united ten major New York City arts organizations—including City Lore and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe—in a collaborative livestream that celebrated Algarín’s extraordinary cultural impact.

Mercado’s work has reached audiences throughout the United States and abroad. She has presented her poetry at internationally respected institutions and venues, including the United Nations Committee on the Status of Women, Lincoln Center, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the University of Nantes in France, the Society for the Study of Multi‑Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS), the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, and Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba, where she appeared by invitation of renowned Cuban poet Roberto Fernández Retamar. She has also performed at The Public Theater, Town Hall, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the High Line, Symphony Space, and numerous other distinguished cultural venues.

A respected editor and literary advocate, Mercado devoted eleven years to the influential underground literary and arts journal Long Shot, including serving as its Editor‑in‑Chief. She is the author of It Concerns the Madness (Long Shot Productions) and Las Tres Hermanas (Casita Maria), and served as editor of If the world were mine (New Jersey Performing Arts Center Arts Education), among other publications. In a landmark contribution to American letters, she edited the first Nuyorican Women Writers Anthology, a groundbreaking two‑volume collection originally published in Voices e/Magazine, an online literary journal of Hunter College, CUNY, showcasing the rich and diverse voices of Nuyorican women writers.

Mercado also edited two special memorial tributes celebrating the life and legacy of Miguel Algarín, bringing together more than sixty writers and artists from across the country. These commemorative editions featured contributions from acclaimed literary figures including Carolyn Forché and Ana Castillo.

Mercado’s own poetry, fiction, and essays have been widely anthologized, further establishing her as a vital voice in contemporary American literature.

In addition to her literary accomplishments, Mercado has enjoyed a distinguished career in theater. For ten years, she served as Artistic Director of the Young Life Theatre Group, a New Jersey‑based youth theater company supported by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

During her tenure, she wrote and directed seven original plays, including Palm Trees in the Snow, Chillin, Forever Earth, It Is I Stay Alive, Planet Earth, Alicia in Projectland (co‑written with acclaimed poet Pedro Pietri), and AWAY. Her productions were staged at leading venues, including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).

Among her theatrical achievements, AWAY was commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of a national HIV/AIDS prevention initiative focused on young women of color. The play has since been made available free of charge to theater companies and community organizations throughout the United States and has been produced in both English and Spanish across the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Mercado’s work has also reached broad audiences through film, television, and radio. She was featured in the documentary Varied Voices: Black Women Writers Dissecting Globalization, directed by Jayne Cortez; Public Television’s Poetry Spots, directed by Bob Holman; PBS NewsHour’s America Remembers 9/11; and National Public Radio programs including All of It and Talk of the Nation.

During the COVID‑19 pandemic, Mercado was selected as a featured poet for NYC Next, a city‑wide initiative that presented live public arts events throughout New York City. As part of its Love Letter to New York series, she was commissioned to create and perform an original work celebrating the resilience and spirit of the city. Latino Leaders Magazine has recognized Mercado as one of the most celebrated figures in New York City’s Puerto Rican literary movement.

Nancy Mercado earned her Ph.D. from Binghamton University, State University of New York, and currently serves as an Associate Professor in New York City.