Bonafide Rojas

Bonafide Rojas, a poet, musician, artist, performer, and teacher, was born in New York on October 8, 1977. Although he spent part of his childhood in Levittown, Puerto Rico, Rojas was raised in the Bronx.

Rojas is the author of four poetry collections: Notes on the Return to the Island (Grand Concourse Press, 2017); Renovatio (Grand Concourse Press, 2014); When the City Sleeps (Grand Concourse Press, 2012); and Pelo Bueno: A Day in the Life of a Nuyorican Poet (Dark Souls Press, 2004). His work has also been published in the anthologies Kweli Journal: Poets For Puerto Rico, released online in 2019; Manteca (Arte Publico Press, 2017); Chorus: A Literary Mixtape (MTV Books, 2012); Learn Then Burn Pt’s 1 & 2 (Write Bloody, 2010, 2015); Role Call (Third World Press, 2002); and Bum Rush the Page (Three Rivers Press, 2001). He has also participated in HBO’s Def Poetry Jam.

In 2018, Rojas received the BRIO Award for Poetry from the Bronx Council on the Arts. In 2022, he was named an inaugural Letras Boricuas Fellow by the Flamboyan Foundation.

Rojas resides in the Bronx.