Neil Raymond Ricco (born 1953), formerly known as Noel Rico, is a Spanish-Italian American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

known for his works featured in publications by Nicolás Kanellos,

Eileen Myles Eileen Myles (born December 9, 1949) is an American poet and writer who has produced more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, libretti, plays, and performance pieces over the last three decades. Novelist Dennis Cooper has des ...

and

Mike Marqusee Mike Marqusee (; 27 January 1953 – 13 January 2015) was an American writer, journalist, and political activist in London. Life and career Marqusee's first published work was the essay "Turn Left at Scarsdale", written when he was a sixteen-y ...

. Ricco was an early member of the

Nuyorican Poets Café The Nuyorican Poets Cafe is a nonprofit organization in the Alphabet City, Manhattan, Alphabet City neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican Movement, Nuyorican (Puerto Rican New Yorker) art movement, and has b ...

and he appeared in the films ''

A Life of Sin ''A Life of Sin'' is a 1979 Puerto Rican-American drama film directed by Efraín López Neris and starring Raul Julia, Míriam Colón and José Ferrer. Premise Paulo (Raul Julia), a Caribbean peasant and Isabel ( Miriam Colon), a politician's mis ...

'' (1979) and ''

Friend of the World ''Friend of the World'' is a 2020 American independent black-and-white film written and directed by Brian Patrick Butler in his feature film debut, starring Nick Young and Alexandra Slade. The surreal experimental film takes place post-apocaly ...

'' (2020).

Personal life

Ricco is from North Bay Shore, New York, growing up in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

until his family relocated to Brentwood, Long Island when he was 14. At the age of 23, he attended

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York, United States. The university enrolls over 16,000 students and offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post on Long I ...

and

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

, earning a college degree. Ricco said he didn't embrace his American and Puerto Rican roots until he was living in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Ricco lived in

Hialeah, Florida Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Da ...

in the early 1980s. In 1997, he lived in

Panama City, Panama Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province ...

as the spouse of a

Foreign Service officer A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, cons ...

before relocating to San Diego, California in 2000. He lived in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

in 2003 but was homeless for several years before moving to

downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the central business district of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. It houses the major local headquarters of the city, county, state, and federal governments. The area comprises seven d ...

around 2012. Ricco sanctioned for the city to have permanent housing for the homeless in 2010, rather than the transitional shelters provided until people recover financially. In 2022, Ricco was one of seventy two residents who were ordered to vacate after city inspectors reported health and safety violations at the

C Street Inn The C Street Inn, formerly known as the Hotel Polhemus and Cecil Hotel, is an affordable housing complex in downtown San Diego's Core district that was vacated in 2022 due to egregious conditions. It was built in 1912 and opened in 1913 with 10 ...

Career

As a young writer, he went by the name Noel Rico. Ricco's work has been published in languages of Spanish, Irish and Italian and he is influenced by

Luis Lloréns Torres Luis Lloréns Torres (May 14, 1876 – June 16, 1944), was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico. Early years Llorens Torres was born in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. His paren ...

and

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

. In 1976, Ricco was part of the

community with

Miguel Algarín 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 ...

and

Luis Guzmán Luis Guzmán (born August 28, 1956) is a Puerto Rican actor. His career spans over 40 years and includes a number of films and television series. He has appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's films ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Magnolia (film), Magn ...

. Ricco later worked for the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carr ...

. Ricco's works have been included in '' Puerto del Sol'', ''Hawaii Pacific Review'', ''Greenfield Review'', ''Long Shot Magazine'', ''Mag City'', '' Contact/II'', ''Y'Bird Reader'', and ''Revista Chicano-Riqueña''. Several of his works were published in ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'' by Nicolás Kanellos and ''Hispanics in the United States: An Anthology of Creative Literature'' by Francisco Jiménez. He was awarded Creative Writing Fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

in 1978. Ricco's poems "January In Motion" and "The Bronx 1979" are for

Miguel Piñero Miguel Piñero (December 19, 1946 – June 16, 1988) was a Puerto Rican born American playwright, actor and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café. He was a leading member of the Nuyorican literary movement. Early years Piñero was born on ...

. In 1985, "Another Poem for Garcia Lorca" was published in ''Carreras. Casos en la comunidad''. His poem "Excerpt from the South Bronx" appeared in ''Dodeca'' and ''Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe''. "The First Place" was featured with "The Bronx, 1979" in ''New York, An Anthology'' by

and with "The Lower East Side" and "Excerpt from the South Bronx II" in ''The Floating Borderlands''. After moving to San Diego, Ricco had to find other work when publishers like

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

were declining deals for a book contract. While supervisor of Heritage Security Service at the

Comerica Bank Comerica Incorporated is an American financial services company, headquartered in Dallas, Dallas, Texas. It is the parent of Comerica Bank, a regional commercial bank with 413 branches in the U.S. states of Texas, Michigan, California, Florida an ...

building on August 14, 2002, Ricco suffered a concussion after tripping upon exiting an elevator. The elevator had stopped a foot below the floor level and Ricco accused

Otis Elevator Company Otis Worldwide Corporation (trade name, branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) styled as OTIS is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. ...

for not maintaining the building's elevators. The situation created opposing tension between Heritage, Ricco and the building's contract. Ricco's 2015 works ''Damsels in Distress'', ''Bailey Among The Angels'' and ''The Rican Eye Detective Agency'' were edited and published by Michael C. Burgess.

Filmography

Published works

As Noel Rico

# "ROBERTO: A STORY POEM." #* ''

Bilingual Review The ''Bilingual Review/La revista bilingüe'' is a triannual peer-reviewed open access academic and literary journal covering research on Spanish-English bilingualism, bilingual education, and Hispanic American literature. It was previously publ ...

/ La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 222–25. #*

, et al. ''Mag City'', no. 1, Jan. 1977, pp. 59–66. # "NOTA AL PIE DE UNA PAGINA ACERCA DE LA CAIDA DE NUESTRA CULTURA." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 221–221. # "ANOTHER POEM FOR GARCÍA LORCA." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 220–21. # "POEM." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 222–222. # "HOY EN EL PARQUE CENTRAL." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 221–221. # "ON HEARING OF THE AILING JOHNNY WEISSMULLER." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 8, no. 2/3, 1981, pp. 185–86. # "THE PLAZA IN PONCE, 1979." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 8, no. 2/3, 1981, pp. 82–82. # "EXCERPT FROM THE SOUTH BRONX XX (The Assassination of John F. Kennedy)." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 8, no. 2/3, 1981, pp. 187–187. # "A HOT AUGUST NIGHT ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 9, no. 2, 1982, pp. 168–69. # "The Lower East Side: After Having Witnessed a Man Beating Up a Woman Underneath a Balcony Overlooking Avenue C" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'',

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 98. # "The Bronx, 1979" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 99. # "It Is Only the Flowers" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 100. # "Excerpt from the South Bronx I" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 101. # "Excerpt from the South Bronx II" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 101. # "The First Place" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 102. # "A Late Afternoon" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 103.

As Neil Raymond Ricco

# "The Spanish Grandmother." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 27, no. 3, 2003, pp. 282–83. # "La Coruña, Galicia." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 27, no. 3, 2003, pp. 284–85. # "Damsels in Distress" 2015. # "The Rican Eye Detective Agency" 2015. # "Bailey Among The Angels" 2015. # "Not Tonight, My Love" 2019. # "A Killing in Hillcrest" 2020. # "King Virus: A Gangster's Tale" 2021.

Other works

Sandra María Esteves Sandra María Esteves (born May 10, 1948) is a Latina poet and graphic artist. She was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, and is one of the founders of the Nuyorican poetry movement. She has published collections of poetry and has conduct ...

' poem "For Noel Rico" was published in ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology''.

References

External links

*
Neil Raymond Ricco
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricco, Neil Raymond Living people 1953 births American poets of Italian descent Poets from California Poets from Maine Poets from New York City American male poets American Spanish-language poets American Irish-language poets 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets Writers from the Bronx People from Long Island Long Island University alumni Colby College alumni Writers from San Diego Writers from Panama City People from Chula Vista, California United States Foreign Service personnel Male actors from San Diego 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Italian poets 21st-century Italian poets 21st-century Spanish poets Spanish male poets Italian male poets Writers from Florida National Endowment for the Arts Fellows