Alfredo Espino (1900—August 1928) was a poet from El Salvador. Born in Ahuachapán, his only book is Jícaras Tristes (Sad Vessels), a collection of 96 poems. It is one of the most published books of poetry in El Salvador. Espino died in San Salvador.

The author is widely read and commented in El Salvador but not usually studied or analyzed in his poetical expression. Espino assumes the national historical problem of the clash of social strata by looking through the colors, flavors and perfumes in the land and the culture of the country at the time he wrote his poems. His book of poems has a poetic and delicate tone with lyrical vision; presented/displayed with a simple style that is easy to understand and feel, therefore, without formal complications. He wrote sonnets, romance and free verses. His work is very youthful and for that reason it may seem to lack creative vision according to some critics. The critics are wrong in such an opinion, of course, at least from the Salvadoran point of view. Espino's poetry is more descriptive and visual in it content than any other poetry of Salvadoran poets, maybe with the only exception of Salarrué. An interesting note about Espino's poetry is that he did not live to see his poetry published and we don't know if he ever thought of publishing his beautiful country poetry. In his genre he is the best El Salvador ever produced.

Roque Dalton García (San Salvador, El Salvador, 14 May 1935 – Quezaltepeque, El Salvador, 10 May 1975) was a Salvadoran poet and journalist. He is considered one of Latin America's most compelling poets. He wrote emotionally strong, sometimes sarcastic, and image-loaded works dealing with life, death, love, and politics.

Dalton was the son of Winnall Dalton and María García Medrano. Winnall Dalton emigrated to Mexico, and came to El Salvador in the early 1920s. Winnall Dalton married Aida Ulloa, and gaining control of his wife's large farm dedicated his life to agriculture. He survived a homicide attempt. The nurse who took care of Winnall Dalton in the Salvadoran hospital, María García Medrano, later gave birth to Roque Dalton. Her hard work and good luck allowed her to provide their children a high-quality education.

Roque graduated from Externado San José, an exclusive Jesuit school for boys in San Salvador. Afterwards he was sent by his father to Santiago in Chile to study law in the Universidad Nacional de Chile. There, he established close relationships to Leftist students and attended lectures with the Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Around this time, he developed a great interest in Socialism.