An award-winning poet will visit NE Campus this month for Living Literature.

Martin Espada has written several collections of poetry, including The Republic of Poetry and Alabanza: New and Selected Poem, which received the Paterson Award for Sustained Literary Achievement and was named an American Library Association Notable Book of the Year, according to The Academy of American Poets Web site.

Dr. Antonio Howell, English department chair, said he encourages student attendance because the featured author is there to improve students’ writing skills and creativity.

“ We all get benefits whether we are students or teachers,” he said.

Howell said it takes a year to prepare for a speaker because the planning committee narrows the pool and chooses based on the writer’s popularity.

The NE Living Literature begins Thursday, March 29.

Espada will have dinner with faculty that evening at 5 p.m. followed by a poetry reading at 7 p.m. in the Center Corner (NSTU 1615A).

A writing workshop will be held Friday, March 30, 9-10 a.m. in the NSTU Center Corner.

Living Literature is free, and reservations are not required.

For more information, students can contact Cynthia Baw, assistant professor of English, at cynthia.baw@tccd.edu.