Poet, essayist, translator, and editor Martín Espada has been called “the Latino poet of his generation.” After attending the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Northeastern University, Espada worked as a tenant and legal services lawyer for many years. The experience of representing “those without an opportunity to be heard” informs his writings, exemplified by Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100 (2002), a poem about the 43 immigrant food service workers killed on 9/11 while working at Windows on the World restaurant. Espada has published 13 books of poems, edited two poetry anthologies, and written three collections of essays. His book, The Republic of Poetry (2006), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, and he has received many other honors. He is Professor in the Department of English at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.