Acknowledged Legislator: Critical Essays on the Poetry of Martín Espada (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781611476415)

Acknowledged Legislator: Critical Essays on the Poetry of Martín Espada stands as the first-ever collection of essays on poet and activist Martín 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.

Author: Edward J. Carvalho
ISBN-10: 1611476410
ISBN-13: 9781611476415
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/17/2014
Pages: 356
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.41lbs
Size: 9.26h x 6.32w x 1.14d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2015 pg. 970