Poetry Like Bread (Old Edition) [Paperback]

Martin Espada (Editor), Curbstone Press (Corporate Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

37 American & Latin American poets, bilingual

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Espada, himself a teacher and poet, has gathered the works of 33 poets from the Americas and other continents, including Nicaraguan Ernesto Cardenal, Honduran Roberto Sosa, North American James Scully, Native American Jimmy Santiago Baca and El Salvadoran Roque Dalton, to show the breadth of the political verse published by Curbstone Press in the 19 years since its establishment. The editor employs a broad definition of "political" in mixing poems on war, poverty, racism, starvation and sex discrimination with love poems, portrayals of alcoholism and cries of loneliness. Styles range from the gravity of Cardenal, who calls Nicaragua "a great tomb of martyrs," to the urgency of John Carey, who warns cautious poets that "Someday / The men with / The guns and butter / Will see you from the street, / Tramp up the stairs / To your room, / Strangle you with the / Cord of your caution." Some of the poets forgo craft for the sake of rhetoric, rendering the quality of the collection's poems inconsistent, and the translations from Spanish tend toward clumsiness; Spanish speakers might go to the originals on facing pages for more evocative reading. Strength and integrity, however, unify these writers as they speak passionately on issues common to all countries.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Bilingual when necessary, this collection includes 33 contemporary poets, putting politically conscious North Americans alongside their Latin and Central American counterparts (with two exceptions: Haitian Paul Laraque and Scandinavian Marianne Larsen). Well-known writers, such as Claribel Alegria, Ernesto Cardenal, and Margaret Randall, are interspersed with those relatively obscure. Welcome newcomers include Alfonso Quijada Urias (ironically depicting North American mundanity in a Communist regime) and Vietnam vet Kevin Bowen. This compilation proves that U.S. poets might lack the urgency and need for metaphor of those in a repressive regime but are every bit as capable of making strong political statements. A few prominent North Americans (Adrienne Rich, June Jordan) are not included, but this is still an important, recommended volume. With an introduction by the editor.
- Rochelle Ratner, formerly Poetry Editor, "Soho Weekly News," New York
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Curbstone Press; 1st edition (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880684152
• ISBN-13: 978-1880684153
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,642,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REVIEW QUOTES, September 10, 2001

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Curbstone Press, Jantje Tielken, Editorial As... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poetry Like Bread (Paperback)

Since 1975, Curbstone Press has published works by a most unique group of writers: political activists, revolutionaries, guerrilla combatants, as well as ordinary working people, from the U.S., Latin America, and throughout the world. What all share is an affinity for that place "where art and politics intersect." Unique among poetry anthologies, POETRY LIKE BREAD contains works by poets whose imaginations are political. These are poets whose works are united in a desire for a world where human needs are met and justice is pursued.

"POETRY LIKE BREAD is an engrossing, readable, and highly passionate poetry anthology...It gives us poetry that sustains, that nourishes, and that is available to all." --Poetry Flash

"These works demonstrate with eloquence that the task of poetry-and all literature-is to challenge us, to illuminate our world and our lives, to force us to examine that which we take for granted and to act in solidarity for something new, to 'give name to the nameless so it can be thought.'" --The Nation

"...engrossing, readable, and highly passionate poetry." --Bloomsbury Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, profound, political poems!, February 17, 2005

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CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Poetry Like Bread (Paperback)

Ever since I read City of Coughing and Dead Radiators, I wanted to read more poetry by Martin Espada. Poetry Like Bread isn't a collection of his poetry though. This is a collection of Curbstone Press poets -- most of which have written about politics and other controversial issues since the seventies -- from various parts of the Americas. The poems are intense, thought provoking, profound and beautiful. I have never read poetry like this. Some messages were as clear as day, others required reading between the lines, but they were all incredible. My favorites are "The Rivers," by Claribel Alegria; "The Torturer's Apprentice," by Doug Anderson; "Poverty," by Noemi Ayala; and "The Voices of the Dead," by Julia de Burgos. I am glad I was able to read the Spanish version of some of the poems. Sometimes words and meanings get lost in translation -- although the translator did a wonderful job writing some of the poems in English. I recommend this gem most highly if you are a fellow poetry enthusiast.