José Martí was a Cuban revolutionary and fighter for independence who was also known worldwide as a poet and a journalist. Referred to by many as the “Apostle of the Cuban Revolution,” Marti was born in Havana in the middle of the 19th century. Martí’s skills were not merely limited to creative writing, as he was also a very well-respected philosopher, translator, professor, publisher, Freemason, and political theorist. 

Esther Allen is an essayist and translator of Spanish and French. An associate professor at Baruch College, City University of New York, she directed the work of the PEN/Heim Translation Fund from its founding in 2003 to 2010, and cofounded PEN World Voices: the New York Festival of International Literature (2004). A two-time recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts translation fellowships, she was a fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library in 2009–2010. The French government has honored her as a Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres (2006). Visit her website at estherallen.com.

Roberto González Echevarría is the Sterling Professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literatures at Yale University. He was awarded the 2010 National Humanities Medal by President Obama and has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a number of other grants for his work as a critic of Latin American literature and culture. Less