Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center will host poet Martín Espada as part of the Symposium on Democracy on April 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kent Student Center Kiva. The event is free and open to the public.
“The audience will be treated to a sampling of Mr. Espada’s beautiful poems, which are both lyrical and explicit, and which manage to strike the perfect balance between the personal and the political,” says Natasha L. Rodriguez-Carroll, graduate fellow at the Wick Poetry Center.
Known as the Latino poet of his generation, Espada has published more than 15 books as a poet, editor, essayist and translator. The Trouble Ball, Epsada’s latest collection of poems, is the recipient of the Milt Kessler Award, a Massachusetts Book Award and an International Latino Book Award. Another of his books, The Republic of Poetry, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Rodriguez-Carroll, a fan of Espada’s work for years, says, “I was first introduced to Latino poetry in high school when I read El Coro, which was edited by Espada. Since that time I’ve been an admirer of his work, and I’m very excited about his visit to Kent State University.”
Espada is a graduate of Northeastern University Law School and was formerly a tenant lawyer. Currently, he is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
The 2014 Symposium on Democracy is presented by the Wick Poetry Center, hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, College of the Arts, College of Communication and Information, Honors College and University Libraries, and supported by the departments of History and English.
For more information about this year’s symposium, “Voices of the American Experience,” which takes place April 22-24, visit www.kent.edu/democracy.