Martín Espada, A Poet Advocate Writing of Justice

His official bio begins with high praise: "the Latino poet of his generation," it says with emphasis. "The Pablo Neruda of North American authors," it says.

He is Martín Espada, an acclaimed poet who will be doing two readings in Columbia this Thursday, first in the afternoon as part of the 3rd annual Blackbird Poetry Festival, and then later that evening in a solo performance.

Information on the event is available here. Tickets to the evening performance can be purchased here. The afternoon performance is free.

Espada, 53, is a Brooklyn-born author who now works in New England; he is an English professor at the University of Massachusetts. His website, which includes several of his poems, can be seen here.

Patch spoke briefly with Espada via e-mail recently about how and why he writes, among other topics.

A look online pulls up many descriptions of you as a poet. But how do you describe yourself?

"I am many things: a poet, essayist, translator, editor, teacher, lawyer and activist. Above all, I see myself as an advocate, speaking on behalf of those without an opportunity to be heard, particularly in the Latino community. (I was a tenant lawyer working in Boston's Latino community during the late 1980s and early 1990s.)"

What motivates your writing? Please take me through the process, from conception through drafting.

"I am a narrative poet. I tell stories. Therefore, for me, the poem often begins with an untold tale or an unsung hero. I also write autobiographical poems, based on my experiences growing up Puerto Rican in Brooklyn during the 1960s.

"Sometimes I know right away when a certain experience will become a poem; other times, that realization may take many years, waking me up in the middle of the night. In either case, my poems are grounded in the image, the five senses on paper. I try to be as clear, concrete and particular as possible."

Does a certain theme feed into what you write, or is it more that what you write seems to fit a theme?

"The overriding theme is my work is the idea of justice, in the practical, political and philosophical senses of that word. I don't start out to write poems about Justice with a capital J; this theme simply comes back to me."

If you can put yourself in your students' perspective, does having an acclaimed poet as a teacher make studying creative writing a much easier course? A more difficult one? Somewhere in-between?

"I really don't think it makes any difference to them."

What do you strive to deliver to your audiences at your readings? And what can people expect this Thursday?

"For me, the word should live in the air as well as on the page. This is more than a reading; it's a performance where I strive to communicate the feeling, the music, the sweat or the soul of a poem, beyond the words themselves."