“Martín Espada’s Floaters manages to address the concerns of our times through a timeless voice that can be heard above ‘this cacophonous world.’ These poems remind us of the power of observation, of seeing everything—what’s in front of us, what’s behind us both in memory and in heritage, and what we can only imagine—believing all are worthy of song, all are worthy of taking seriously within our song. This is a collection that is vital for our times and will be vital for those in the future, trying to make sense of today.”

“You’ll read this powerful National Book Award winner in one sitting because Martín Espada is lyrical yet direct with his elegies of love to those burdened with hate. The collection is titled after a term used by some in the U.S. Border Patrol to refer to migrants who drown trying to cross over the Río Grande. And Espada, with his eloquent, intimate and sometimes even humorous verses, makes sure we never forget the migrants—beaten, incarcerated, killed—no matter how dangerous or scary the memories are.”

“Floaters proves [Espada] is the greatest living American poet….Every poem in this book is a call to action, a commitment to change….Espada reminds me to pay attention, to see, to listen, to act, to keep calling out injustice, to continue naming the dead, and to sing from right here, right now.”

“Vintage Espada—essential, topical, political, irrepressible; in his poems, mercy acquires muscle and close attention confers value—reminding us that protest and praise rise from the same source. Such eloquence in comradeship, elegy and homage to those who lit the path, and, oh, a fresh bounty of love poems, written ‘not in lust but in astonishment.’”

“The visionary latest from Espada combines a sharp political awareness with a storyteller’s knack for finding beauty and irony in the current moment... Drawing on history, personal experience, and keen observation, this impressive collection is unique for the way it captures the world-weary voice of a poet and political activist who doesn’t simply call for change, but offers a sense of the long, difficult struggle toward justice.”

“In the battle against forgetfulness, in the ongoing war against dumb distraction and voluntary blindness, Martín Espada is our subcomandante. With an ear sweetened by long listening to voices most often unheard, he writes poems that resonate like bells forged of bronze and blood.”

“In The Trouble Ball, Martín Espada continues his lyrical, socially restless revolution, once again bearing unflinching witness to a world many of us would rather not see so closely. This is poetry as the poets define it—unforgettable, insistent, a masterful mix of infectious music and revelations that change the way we are rooted to the world.”