HEY YO ! YO SOY! 40 YEARS OF NUYORICAN STREET POETRY, A BILINGUAL EDITION is a 386-page collection, comprised of three previously published books, "Casting Long Shadows" (1970), "Have You Seen Liberation" (1971), and "Street Poetry & Other Poems" (1972), consist of stories about growing up Puerto Rican in New York City's El Barrio. Meléndez has long been considered one of the founders of the Nuyorican Movement and the political, intellectual and linguistic topics he approaches in his work remain extremely relevant to this day. Forward by Samuel Diaz and Carmen M. Pietri-Diaz; Translator's notes by Adam Wier; Introduction by Sandra Maria Esteves; and Afterword by Jaime "Shaggy" Flores. Also includes historical photos of and an in-depth interview of Jesus Papoleto Melendez. HEY YO ! YO SOY! 40 YEARS OF NUYORICAN STREET POETRY, A BILINGUAL EDITION is a collection to be devoured as a single sustained narrative, from the first page to the last; a worthy addition in anyone's library.

JESÚS PAPOLETO MELÉNDEZ ("Papo") is a New York-born Puerto Rican award-winning poet most associated as one of the founders of the Nuyorican Movement. He is also a playwright, teacher and activist. Meléndez is the recipient of the Louis Reyes Rivera Lifetime Achievement Award (2004); and a 2001 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. He currently resides in New York. Visit him online at www.papoleto.com.