16 pages • 32 minutes read
Martín EspadaWho Burns for the Perfection of Paper
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1993A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
"The Assassination of the Landlord’s Purple Vintage 1976 Monte Carlo" by Martin Espada (2018)
This prose poem shows the playful side of Espada, while sticking closely to his lifelong themes of the battle between the underprivileged and their would-be exploiters. In this one, a moose takes revenge on behalf of tenants by using its antlers to attack the landlord’s expensive car. While noting the brutal reaction of hunters who try to hit the animal with a crossbow, Espada ends with a triumphant cry of ‘Huzzah!’ as the moose escapes and the car is hit instead.
"The Chosen Ones" by Pablo Neruda (republished 2000)
In this famous poem, Neruda speaks in the voice of those who died in conflicts at various stages of Latin American history. The poem viscerally captures the bitterness of dying an anonymous death, and the desperate desire for justice beyond the grave.
"Charlie Howard’s Descent" by Mark Doty (2012)
Emerging onto the scene around the same time as Espada, Doty’s poems often memorialize the victims of AIDS, or in this poem, the murder of a gay man. Both poets draw on lived experience and favor free verse, though, as here, Doty tends to employ regular stanza forms.
Further Literary Resources
"Against Oblivion. An Interview with Martin Espada" by Gabriel Thomson in Poetry Foundation (2018)
In this revealing interview with Gabriel Thomson, Espada reflects on the start of his poetry career, the influence of Neruda, and his ongoing commitment to preserving the voices of the forgotten dead.
"Martin Espada on Framing the Present through the Lens of the Past" by Peter Mishler in LitHub (2021)
Speaking after the publication of his recent collection Floaters (2021) in an interview with Peter Mishler, Espada comments directly on recent political events which have inspired him to respond. He also explains why being a “political poet” does not stop him from expressing his imagination with surrealistic humor.
"Review of The City of Coughing and Dead Radiators" by Matthew Rothschild in The Progressive (1993)
This review of City of Coughing and Dead Radiators offers a window onto a contemporary critic’s reaction to the collection containing “Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper.”
Listen to Poem
Espada gives a powerful reading of “Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper” to an audience at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival (Poetry Everywhere TV, 2010)
