Acknowledged Legislator: Critical Essays on the Poetry of Martin Espada stands as the first-ever collection of essays on poet and activist Martin Espada. It is also, to date, the only published book-length, single-author study of Espada currently in existence. Relying on innovative, highly original contributions from thirteen Espada scholars, its principal aim is to argue for a long overdue critical awareness of and cultural appreciation for Espada and his body of writing. Acknowledged Legislator accomplishes this task in three fundamental ways: by providing readers with background information on the poet's life and work; offering an examination into the subject matter and dominant themes that are frequently contained in his writing; and finally, by advocating, in a variety of ways, for why we should be reading, discussing, and teaching the Espada canon. Divided into four distinct sections that modulate through several theoretical frames-from Espada's attention to resistance poetics and concerns for historical memory to his oppositional critique of neoliberalism and support for a class consciousness grounded in labor rights-Acknowledged Legislator offers a cohesive, forward-thinking interpretive statement of the poet's vision and proposes a critical (re)assessment for how we read Espada, now and in the future.
Acknowledgments Preface Introduction Key to Espada Title Abbreviations I. My Name Is Espadaa: Author Profile Martín Espada (1957 ) César A. Salgado II. [T]o give history a human facea: Historical Memory and Political Resistance The Republic of Memory: Martín Espada's Local/Global Poetics of Dissent Maritza Stanchich Martín Espada: Resistance-Postmodern Poet Pauline Uchmanowicz Undoing Macho: Martín Espada's Poetry against Domestic Violence Oscar Sarmiento Muse on First: Baseball in the Poetry of Martín Espada Eric B. Salo (with Edward J. Carvalho) A Poetry like Ammunition: Martín Espada's Poetics of Resistance and Subversion Natasha Azank III. Compañero: Labor Advocacy, Economic Concerns, and Class Consciousness Heart of Hungera: Martín Espada and the Poetry of Liberation Camilo Pérez-Bustillo [T]he black braid of namesa: A Hemispheric Mapping of Martín Espada's Lyric Monuments Michael Dowdy From the Inner-City to the Cotton Fields: Living and Working Conditions in Martín Espada's Poetry Jeremy Larochelle IV. The poets must speaka: Postscripts and Epilogue La tumba de Buenaventura Roig: Selected Poems/Poemas selectos Book Review The Poet Is a Historian, the Poem Is a Record: Interview with Martín Espada Carmen Dolores Hernández A Visit to the Bakery: The Martín Espada Papers at Amherst College Peter Nelson The Great Bell in Martín Espada's Chest Andy Croft Bibliography Contributors
Acknowledgments Preface Introduction Key to Espada Title Abbreviations I. "My Name Is Espada": Author Profile Martin Espada (1957- ) Cesar A. Salgado II. "[T]o give history a human face": Historical Memory and Political Resistance The Republic of Memory: Martin Espada's Local/Global Poetics of Dissent Maritza Stanchich Martin Espada: Resistance-Postmodern Poet Pauline Uchmanowicz Undoing Macho: Martin Espada's Poetry against Domestic Violence Oscar Sarmiento Muse on First: Baseball in the Poetry of Martin Espada Eric B. Salo (with Edward J. Carvalho) A Poetry like Ammunition: Martin Espada's Poetics of Resistance and Subversion Natasha Azank III. Companero: Labor Advocacy, Economic Concerns, and Class Consciousness "Heart of Hunger": Martin Espada and the Poetry of Liberation Camilo Perez-Bustillo "[T]he black braid of names": A Hemispheric Mapping of Martin Espada's Lyric Monuments Michael Dowdy From the Inner-City to the Cotton Fields: Living and Working Conditions in Martin Espada's Poetry Jeremy Larochelle IV. "The poets must speak": Postscripts and Epilogue La tumba de Buenaventura Roig: Selected Poems/Poemas selectos Book Review The Poet Is a Historian, the Poem Is a Record: Interview with Martin Espada Carmen Dolores Hernandez A Visit to the Bakery: The Martin Espada Papers at Amherst College Peter Nelson The Great Bell in Martin Espada's Chest Andy Croft Bibliography Contributors
