Martín Espada

A Mayan Astronomer in Hell's Kitchen

"Martín Espada ....forges a new poetic language."—Dennis Loy Johnson, Pittsburgh Tribune

In his sixth collection, American Book Award winner Martín Espada has created a poetic mural. There are conquerors, slaves, and rebels from Caribbean history; the "Mayan astronomer" calmly smoking a cigarette in the middle of a New York tenement fire; a nun staging a White House vigil to protest her torture; a man on death row mourning the loss of his books; and even Carmen Miranda.

"[W]onderfully crafted gems, full of humor and surprises. Read this book!"—Julia Alvarez

"With A Mayan Astronomer in Hell's Kitchen, Espada continues to act as the moral conscience for our nation. . . . If poetry can speak to and for 'better angels,' then this is that work. For more than a decade now, with growing confidence and ease, Espada has been emerging as our modern Walt Whitman."—John Bradley, Bloomsbury Review

"Martín Espada is one of a handful of American poets who are forging a new American language, one that tells the unwritten history of the continent, speaks truth to power, and sings songs of selves we can no longer silence. His ambition and his achievement remind us of Whitman, where it all begins."—Russell Banks

"So Espada writes of Puerto Rico, his aged Tata, janitors, cabbies, Carmen Miranda's final cha-cha on the Jimmy Durante show—in all, he abundantly displays wit and irony as well as his large heart attuned to human suffering."—Gary Soto, El Andar

"There is a patriotic love in these poems that demands we right our wrongs, that we reshape our lives together into a republic of justice and democratic beauty, that we venture beyond our cultivated blindness. A Mayan Astronomer in Hell's Kitchen recalibrates history till a scary clarity stares us in the eyes. We cannot play ignorant as we face Espada's music and imagery in these point-blank poems."—Yusef Komunyakaa

"Here is a poet who draws attention and gives enjoyment...this...book is the happy result of the commitment Espada continues to bring to his writing and the verve with which he carries it out."—David Chorlton, Chiron Review

"Espada still exults with pen and wit."—Julie Amparano, Político