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Martin
Espada

Martin Espada
Poet, Essayist, and Translator
Amherst, MA
2010 USA Fellow

This award was generously supported by The Todd and Betiana Simon Foundation.
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Poet, essayist, translator, and editor Martín Espada has been called “the Latino poet of his generation.” After attending the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Northeastern University, Espada worked as a tenant and legal services lawyer for many years. The experience of representing “those without an opportunity to be heard” informs his writings, exemplified by Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100 (2002), a poem about the 43 immigrant food service workers killed on 9/11 while working at Windows on the World restaurant. Espada has published 13 books of poems, edited two poetry anthologies, and written three collections of essays. His book, The Republic of Poetry (2006), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, and he has received many other honors. He is Professor in the Department of English at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Photo credit Rachel Eliza Griffiths.

martinespada.net
  • Artwork by Martin Espada
    The Republic of Poetry, 2006; photo credit W. W. Norton
Artwork by Martin Espada