Combining the personal with the political in his fifth collection, Martin Espada celebrates the bread of the imagination, the bread of the table, and the bread of justice. The heart of the collection is a series of autobiographical poems recalling family, school, neighborhood, and work experiences-from bouncer to tenant lawyer. There are moments of revelation and political transcendence here, which culminate in an elegy for the Puerto Rican poet Clemente Soto Velez, imprisoned for his advocacy of independence for Puerto Rico.
Combining the personal with the political in his fifth collection, Martin Espada celebrates the bread of the imagination, the bread of the table, and ...
Alabanza is a twenty-year collection charting the emergence of Martin Espada as the preeminent Latino lyric voice of his generation. "Alabanza" means "praise" in Spanish, and Espada praises the people Whitman called "them the others are down upon": the African slaves who brought their music to Puerto Rico; a prison inmate provoking brawls so he could write poetry in solitary confinement; a janitor and his solitary strike; Espada's own father, who was jailed in Mississippi for refusing to go to the back of the bus. The poet bears witness to death and rebirth at the ruins of a...
Alabanza is a twenty-year collection charting the emergence of Martin Espada as the preeminent Latino lyric voice of his generation. "Ala...
This is an anthology of work by Latino and Latina poets, which reveals a diversity of form and content. Among the poets are former farm workers and gang members, a physician, a chef and a Vietnam veteran. The variety of experience demonstrates that there is no single Latino/a outlook.
This is an anthology of work by Latino and Latina poets, which reveals a diversity of form and content. Among the poets are former farm workers and ga...
"Poetry Like Bread" contains poems by nearly forty poets published by the Curbstone Press during the last twenty years. These poets are probably unlike any you have studied. Their engagement with everyday political and economic realities is as direct as a newspaper, their language as familiar as conversation. Their motto, taken from Roque Dalton for the title of the collection, is that "poetry, like bread, is for everyone." These poems were not written to be studied. They were meant to be read. Or better yet, heard. Whole or in part. Alone or among friends and strangers. Reading and...
"Poetry Like Bread" contains poems by nearly forty poets published by the Curbstone Press during the last twenty years. These poets are probably unlik...
Stunning, highly original poems that celebrate the richness of the author's multicultural tradition, Teeth explores loves, wars, wild hope, defiance, and the spirit of creativity in a daring use of language and syntax. Behind this language one senses a powerful, inventive woman who is not afraid to tackle any subject, including rape, genocide, and love, always sustained by an optimistic voice, assuring us that in the end justice will triumph and love will persevere.
LOVE, you be the reason why we swagger & jive,...
Winner, 2015 Whiting Award for Poetry
Stunning, highly original poems that celebrate the richness of the author's multicultural tradition, Teeth...
"Political poetry at its finestwith his soaring lyrics, Espada broadens our appreciation not only of poetry but of resistance itself." ---The Progressive
"(Espada) writes beautiful poems about terrible realities." ---San Francisco Chronicle
A volume in the Poets on Poetry series, which collects critical works by contemporary poets, gathering together the articles, interviews, and book reviews by which they have articulated the poetics of a new generation.
This collection of essays on poetry and politics comes from...
Prior praise for Martin Espada:
"Political poetry at its finestwith his soaring lyrics, Espada broadens our appreciation not only of poetry ...
from "The Trouble Ball On my father's island, there were hurricanes and tuberculosis, dissidents in jail and baseball. The loudspeakers boomed: Satchel Paige pitching for the Brujo of Guayama. From the Negro Leagues he brought the gifts of Baltasar the King from a bench on the plaza he told the secrets of a thousand pitches: The Trouble Ball The Triple Curve, The Bat Dodger, The Midnight Creeper, The Slow Gin Fizz The Thoughtful Stuff. Pancho Coimbre hit rainmakers for the Leones of Ponce Satchel sat the outfielders in the grass to play poker, windmilled three pitche to the plate, and...
from "The Trouble Ball On my father's island, there were hurricanes and tuberculosis, dissidents in jail and baseball. The loudspeakers boomed: Sa...
This chapbook collection offers new poems from the prolific career of a community leader, activist, and healer. Luis J. Rodriguez s work asks profound questions of us as readers and fellow humans, such as, "If society cooperates, can we nurture the full / and healthy development of everyone?" In his introductory remarks, Martin Espada describes the poet as a man engaged in people and places: "Luis Rodriguez is a poet of many tongues, befitting a city of many tongues. He speaks English, Spanish, Hip Hop, the Blues, and cool jazz. He speaks in mad solos. He speaks...
Foreword by Martin Espada
This chapbook collection offers new poems from the prolific career of a community leader, activist, and healer. Luis J....
The ferocious acumen with which the award-winning poet Martin Espada attacks issues of social injustice in Zapata's Disciple makes it no surprise that the book has been the subject of bans in both Arizona and Texas, targeted for its presence in the Mexican American Studies curriculum of Tucson's schools and for its potential to incite a riot among Texas prison populations. This new edition of Zapata's Disciple, which won the 1999 Independent Publisher Book Award for Essay / Creative Nonfiction, opens with an introduction in which the author chronicles this history of...
The ferocious acumen with which the award-winning poet Martin Espada attacks issues of social injustice in Zapata's Disciple makes it no sur...
