Kwame Dawes

File:Kwame Dawes.jpg

Kwame Dawes was born in Ghana in 1962 to Sophia and Neville Dawes, and in 1971 the family moved to Kingston, Jamaica, when Neville Dawes became deputy director of the Institute of Jamaica.Seeger, Roy, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zVHGBwAAQBAJ&dq=%22kwame+dawes%22+born+in+ghana+to+%22neville+dawes%22&pg=PT94 "Dawes, Kwame (b. 1962)"], in Tom Mack (ed.), The South Carolina Encyclopedia Guide to South Carolina Writers, University of South Carolina Press, 2014. Growing up in Jamaica, Kwame Dawes attended Jamaica College and the University of the West Indies at Mona, where he received a BA degree in 1983. He studied and taught in New Brunswick, Canada, on a Commonwealth Scholarship.[http://www.peepaltreepress.com/author_display.asp?au_id=16 Kwame Dawes page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715062257/http://www.peepaltreepress.com/author_display.asp?au_id=16 |date=15 July 2011 }}, Peepal Tree Press. In 1992 he earned a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of New Brunswick, where he was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Brunswickan.

From 1992 to 2012, Dawes taught at the University of South Carolina (USC) as a Professor in English, Distinguished Poet in Residence, Director of the South Carolina Poetry Initiative, and Director of the USC Arts Institute. He was also the faculty advisor for the publication Yemassee. He won the 1994 Forward Poetry Prize, Best First Collection for Progeny of Air. He is currently a Chancellor's Professor of English and Editor-in-Chief of Prairie Schooner at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a faculty member of Cave Canem Foundation, and a teacher in the Pacific MFA program in Oregon.

Dawes collaborated with San Francisco–based writer and composer Kevin Simmonds on Wisteria: Twilight Songs from the Swamp Country, which debuted at London's Royal Festival Hall in 2006, and featured sopranos Valetta Brinson and Valerie Johnson.

In 2009, Dawes won an Emmy Award in the category of New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Arts, Lifestyle & Culture.{{cite web|first=Kevin|last= Kyzer|url=http://www.free-times.com/archives/uscs-kwame-dawes-wins-emmy |title=USC's Kwame Dawes Wins Emmy|website=Free Times|date= 23 September 2009}} His project documented HIV/AIDS in Jamaica, interspersed with poetry, photography by Andre Lambertson, and music by Kevin Simmonds. The website Livehopelove.com[http://www.livehopelove.com/ HOPE: Living & Loving with HIV in Jamaica.] is the culmination of his project."Professor Kwame Dawes wins Emmy for HIV project", Jamaica Observer, 23 September 2009.{{cite web |url= http://www.thestate.com/2011/01/09/1635430/haiti-through-a-poets-eyes.html |title=Haiti, through a poet's eyes |first= Joey |last=Holleman |work= The State|date=9 January 2011| access-date=2011-02-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115040946/http://www.thestate.com/2011/01/09/1635430/haiti-through-a-poets-eyes.html |archive-date=15 January 2011 |df=dmy-all }}

Dawes is director of the Calabash International Literary Festival, a yearly event in Jamaica.[http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/kwame-dawes Kwame Dawes biography], Poetry Foundation.

In 2011, Dawes became editor of literary journal Prairie Schooner.{{cite web |title=Acclaimed author, poet takes the helm of Prairie Schooner |url=https://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/todayatunl/604/3614 |website=University of Nebraska-Lincoln |access-date=17 February 2025 |date=21 September 2011}}

In 2012, the African Poetry Book Fund was established, with Dawes as the founding editor.{{cite web|url=https://africanpoetrybf.unl.edu/about-apbf/|title=About ABPF|website=African Poetry Book Fund|access-date=1 February 2023}} He and five other internationally regarded poets serve on the reading board to annually publish the winning manuscript of the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, a new and selected/collected volume by a major living African poet, the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Boxset (comprising collected chapbooks of emerging writers, with special emphasis on those who have not yet published a full-length collection), and contemporary works of new poetry by select African poets (solicited and unsolicited manuscripts).{{cite web|url=https://africanpoetrybf.unl.edu/publish-with-apbf/ |title=Publish with ABPF|publisher=African Poetry Book Fund|access-date=1 February 2023}} The Fund also administers the Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry, the only pan-African prize for a collection of poetry.{{cite web |title=Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry |url=https://africanpoetrybf.unl.edu/contest-prizes/glenna-lucieu-prize-winners/ |website=African Poetry Book Fund |access-date=16 February 2025}}

In 2016, the event Respect Due: Symposium on the Work of Kwame Dawes featured participants including Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Shara McCallum, Vladimir Lucien, Ishion Hutchinson, Linton Kwesi Johnson, John Robert Lee, and Lorna Goodison.{{cite web|url=https://pionline.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/respect-due-symposium-on-the-work-of-kwame-dawes/|title=Respect Due: Symposium on the Work of Kwame Dawes|publisher=Poetry International|date=9 June 2016|access-date=29 April 2023}} Goodison in her contribution described him by saying: "...he is the embodiment of the African Jamaican, born as he was of Ghanaian and Jamaican parents, and he moves with ease and authority between multiple worlds. Everything about Kwame’s art is multi-dimensional."{{cite web|url=https://www.poetryinternationalonline.com/respect-due-to-kwame-by-lorna-goodison/|title=Respect Due To Kwame|first=Lorna|last=Goodison|website=Poetry International|access-date=29 April 2023}}

In 2018, Dawes was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.[https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/kwame-dawes "Kwame Dawes"], Poets.org. In 2019 he was one of the eight recipients of the Windham-Campbell Prize, alongside Ishion Hutchinson (Jamaica), Danielle McLaughlin (Ireland), David Chariandy (Canada), Raghu Karnad (India), Rebecca Solnit (US), Young Jean Lee (US) and Patricia Cornelius (Australia).Obi-Young, Otosirieze (14 March 2019), [https://brittlepaper.com/2019/03/professor-kwame-dawes-awarded-165000-windham-campbell-prize-alongside-seven-others/ "Professor Kwame Dawes Awarded $165,000 Windham-Campbell Prize, Alongside Seven Others"], Brittle Paper.

In 2021, Dawes succeeded Ted Kooser as host of the news column American Life in Poetry.{{Cite web|last=KHGI|date=2020-09-09|title=Kwame Dawes named successor for national "American Life in Poetry" column|url=https://nebraska.tv/news/local/kwame-dawes-named-successor-for-national-american-life-in-poetry-column|access-date=3 November 2020|website=KHGI}}

In April 2024, Dawes was named as poet laureate of Jamaica, with a three-year tenue.{{cite web|url=https://nlj.gov.jm/poetlaureate/|title=POET LAUREATE OF JAMAICA {{!}} 2024-2027 {{!}} Prof. Kwame Dawes CD|website=National Library of Jamaica|access-date=22 April 2024}}

• 1994: Forward Poetry Prize (Best First Collection)
• 1996: Individual Artist Fellowship
• 2000: Poetry Business Prize
• 2000: Hollis Summers Poetry Prize
• 2001: Pushcart Prize for Poetry (US)
• 2003: Commonwealth Writers Prize (Caribbean and Canada Region, Best First Book)
• 2009: Emmy Award – New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Arts, Lifestyle & Culture
• 2019: Windham–Campbell Literature Prize in Poetry.{{cite web |url=http://windhamcampbell.org/2019/winner/kwame-dawes |title=Kwame Dawes |publisher=Windham–Campbell Literature Prizes |date=March 12, 2019 |access-date=March 13, 2019}}
• 2022: Brittle Paper's Literary Person of the Year.{{cite web|url=https://brittlepaper.com/2022/12/kwame-dawes-is-brittle-papers-2022-literary-person-of-the-year/|title=Prof. Kwame Dawes is Brittle Paper's 2022 Literary Person of the Year|first=Darlington Chibueze|last=Anuonye|website=Brittle Paper|date=22 December 2022|access-date=24 December 2022 }}
• 2024–2027: Poet laureate of Jamaica

• Progeny of Air, Peepal Tree Press, 1994, {{ISBN|978-0-948833-68-7}}
• Resisting the Anomie, Fredericton, 1995, {{ISBN|978-0-864921-47-5}}[https://www.amazon.com/Resisting-Anomie-Kwame-Dawes/dp/0864921470/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474310288&sr=8-1&keywords=resisting+the+anomie "Resisting the Anomie"] at Amazon.
• Prophets, Peepal Tree Press, 1995, {{ISBN|978-0-948833-85-4}}
• Jacko Jacobus, Peepal Tree Press, 1996, {{ISBN|978-1-900715-06-5}}
• Requiem, Peepal Tree Press, 1996, {{ISBN|978-1-900715-07-2}}
• Shook Foil, Peepal Tree Press, 1997, {{ISBN|978-1-900715-14-0}}
• Map-Maker Smith/Doorstop Books, 2000, {{ISBN|978-1-902382-18-0}}
• {{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/midland0000dawe| url-access=registration| quote=Kwame Senu Neville Dawes.| title=Midland| publisher= Ohio University Press| year= 2001| isbn= 978-0-8214-1356-2 }}
• New and Selected Poems, 1994–2002, Peepal Tree Press, 2003, {{ISBN|978-1-900715-70-6}}
• Bruised Totems, Parallel Press Madison, 2004, {{ISBN|978-1-893311-48-0}}[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Literature/Literature-idx?id=Literature.Dawes "Bruised Totems"] at University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.
• I Saw Your Face, with Tom Feelings, Dial Books, 2005, {{ISBN|978-0-803718-94-4}}[https://www.amazon.com/Saw-Your-Face-Tom-Feelings/dp/0803718942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474310332&sr=1-1&keywords=i+saw+your+face "I Saw Your Face"] at Amazon.
• Wisteria: Twilight Songs from the Swamp Country, Red Hen Press, 2006, {{ISBN|978-1-597090-59-9}}[https://www.amazon.com/WISTERIA-POEMS-COUNTRY-Kwame-Dawes/dp/159709059X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467260643&sr=1-1&keywords=wisteria+kwame+dawes "Wisteria"] at Amazon.
• Impossible Flying, Peepal Tree Press, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-845230-39-5}}[https://www.amazon.com/Impossible-Flying-Kwame-Dawes/dp/1845230396/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467259246&sr=1-1&keywords=kwame+dawes+impossible+flying "Impossible Flying"], Amazon.
• {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cu6Kk7SDjY0C| title=Gomer's Song| publisher= Akashic Books|date=2007 | isbn= 978-1-933354-44-6 }}
• Hope's Hospice, Peepal Tree Press, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-845230-78-4}}[https://www.amazon.com/Hopes-Hospice-Other-Poems-Peepal/dp/1845230787/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467256671&sr=1-1&keywords=kwame+dawes+hope%27s+hospice "Hope's Hospice and Other Poems (Peepal Tree Caribbean Poetry)"], Amazon.
• Back of Mount Peace, Peepal Tree Press, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-84523-124-8}}
• Wheels, Peepal Tree Press, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-84523-142-2}}
• Duppy Conqueror: New and Selected Poems, Copper Canyon Press, 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-55659-423-6}}
• Speak from Here to There, with John Kinsella, Peepal Tree Press, 2016, {{ISBN|978-1-845233-19-8}}[https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Here-There-Kwame-Dawes/dp/1845233190/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474311163&sr=1-1&keywords=speak+from+here+to+there "Speak from Here to There"], Amazon.
• City of Bones: A Testament, Northwestern University Press, 2017, {{ISBN|978-0810134-62-1}}[https://www.amazon.com/City-Bones-Testament-Triquarterly-Books/dp/0810134624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474311334&sr=1-1&keywords=city+of+bones+kwame "City of Bones: A Testament (Triquarterly Books)"], Amazon.

• {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PtfyQTP_8wcC&q=kwame+dawes&pg=PP1| title=She's Gone | publisher= Akashic Books| year= 2007| isbn= 978-1-933354-18-7 }}
• Bivouac, Peepal Tree Press Ltd, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-84523-105-7}}

• A Place to Hide and Other Stories, Peepal Tree Press, 2003, {{ISBN|978-1-900715-48-5}}

• Natural Mysticism: Towards a Reggae Aesthetic, Peepal Tree Press, 1999, {{ISBN|978-1-900715-22-5}}[https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Mysticism-Towards-Reggae-Aesthetic/dp/1900715228/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474311890&sr=8-1&keywords=natural+mysticism "Natural Mysticism: Towards a New Reggae Aesthetic"] at Amazon.
• Bob Marley: Lyrical Genius, Sanctuary, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-86074-433-4}}
• A Far Cry from Plymouth Rock: A Personal Narrative, Peepal Tree Press, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-845230-25-8}}

• {{cite book| title=One Love| publisher= Methuen| year= 2001| isbn= 978-0-413-76530-7 }}

• {{cite book| title=Wheel and Come Again: An anthology of Reggae Poetry | publisher= Goose Lane Editions| year= 1998 }}
• {{cite book| title=Twenty South Carolina Poetry Fellows | publisher=Hub City Press|year= 2005| isbn= 978-1891885-39-6 }}
• {{cite book| title=Red: Contemporary Black British Poetry | publisher=Peepal Tree Press|year= 2009| isbn= 978-1-84523-129-3 }}
• {{cite book| title=Fugue and Other Writings | publisher= Peepal Tree Press| year= 2009 | isbn= 978-1845231-09-5 }}
• (with Colin Channer) {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=om7d-Ej9B2AC&q=kwame+dawes| title=So Much Things to Say: 100 Poets from the First Ten Years of the Calabash International Literary Festival | publisher= Akashic Books| year= 2010| isbn= 978-1-936070-07-7}}
• {{cite book| title=Home Is Where: An Anthology of African American Poetry from the Carolinas| publisher= Hub City Press| year= 2011| isbn= 978-1891885-80-8 }}
• (with Jeremy Poynting) {{cite book| title=Hold Me To an Island: Caribbean Place: An Anthology of Writing | publisher= Peepal Tree Press| year= 2011| isbn= 978-1-84523-163-7 }}
• {{cite book| title=Jubilation!: Poems Celebrating 50 Years of Jamaican Independence| publisher= Peepal Tree Press| year= 2012| isbn= 978-1845232-04-7 }}
• {{cite book| title=Seven Strong: Winners of the South Carolina Poetry Book Prize, 2006–2012| publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2012| isbn= 978-1-61117-093-1 }}
• (with Marianne Kunkel and James Englehardt) {{cite book| title=The Prairie Schooner Book Prize: Tenth Anniversary Reader| publisher= University of Nebraska Press| year= 2013| isbn= 978-0803240-43-8 }}
• (with Marjory Wentworth) {{cite book| title=Seeking: Poetry and Prose Inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green| publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2013| isbn= 978-1611170-92-4 }}
• (with Chris Abani) {{cite book| title=Eight New Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Boxset| publisher= Akashic Books/African Poetry Book Fund | year= 2015| isbn= 978-1617753-55-8 }}
• (With Chris Abani) {{cite book| title=New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set – Tatu| publisher= Akashic Books/African Poetry Book Fund | year= 2016| isbn= 978-1617754-51-7 }}
• {{cite book| title=When the Rewards Can Be So Great: Essays on Writing and the Writing Life | editor= Kwame Dawes | publisher= Pacific University Press | year= 2016| isbn= 978-0988482-74-6 }}
• {{cite book| title=A Bloom of Stones: A Tri-lingual Anthology of Haitian Poems After the Earthquake | editor= Kwame Dawes | publisher= Peepal Tree Press | year= 2016| isbn= 978-1845231-92-7 }}
• (with Matthew Shenoda) {{cite book| title=Bearden's Odyssey: Poets Respond to the Art of Romare Bearden | publisher= Northwestern University Press | year= 2017| isbn= 978-0810134-89-8 }}
• (with Chris Abani) {{cite book| title=New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set – Nne| publisher= Akashic Books/African Poetry Book Fund | year= 2017| isbn= 978-1617755-40-8 }}
• (with Chris Abani) {{cite book| title=New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set – Tano| publisher= Akashic Books/African Poetry Book Fund | year= 2018| isbn= 978-1617756-23-8 }}

Dawes established the South Carolina Poetry Initiative's annual book prize competition, and edits the winning manuscripts.

• {{cite book| title=Hold like Owls| first= Julia |last=Koets | publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2012| isbn= 978-1-61117-084-9 }}
• {{cite book| title=Excavations: A City Cycle| first= Jennifer|last= Pournelle | publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2011| isbn= 978-1-61117-093-1 }}
• {{cite book| title=Green Revolver| first= Worthy |last=Evans | publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2010| isbn= 978-1-57003-932-4 }}
• {{cite book| title=How God Ends Us| first= DéLana R. A. |last=Dameron | publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2009| isbn= 978-1-57003-832-7 }}
• {{cite book| title=Signals| url=https://archive.org/details/signals0000madd| url-access=registration| first= Ed |last=Madden | publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2008| isbn= 978-1-57003-750-4 }}
• {{cite book| title=Driving Through the Country Before You Are Born| first= Ray |last=McManus | publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2007| isbn= 978-1-57003-702-3 }}
• {{cite book| title=Keep and Give Away| first= Susan |last=Meyers | publisher= University of South Carolina Press| year= 2006| isbn= 978-1-57003-670-5 }}

Dawes is the founding editor of the African Poetry Book Fund (APBF). The series itself was started in 2014 and established through the generosity of Laura Sillerman and Robert F. X. Sillerman. The goal of the APBF is to promote and publicize "the poetic arts through its book series, contests, workshops, and seminars and through its collaborations with publishers, festivals, booking agents, colleges, universities, conferences and all other entities that share an interest in the poetic arts of Africa."{{cite web|url=https://africanpoetrybf.unl.edu/support-apbf/|title=Support ABPF|website= African Poetry Book Fund|access-date=1 February 2023}}

• (Co-editor with Chris Abani) {{cite book| title=New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set – Tano| publisher= Akashic Books| year= 2018| isbn= 978-1617756-23-8 }}
• (with Chris Abani) {{cite book| title=New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set – Nne| publisher= Akashic Books| year= 2017| isbn= 978-1617755-40-8 }}
• {{cite book| title=New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set – Tatu| publisher= Akashic Books| year= 2016| isbn= 978-1-61775-451-7 }}
• (with Chris Abani) {{cite book| title=Eight New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set | publisher= Akashic Books| year= 2015| isbn= 978-1-61775-355-8 }}
• (with Chris Abani) {{cite book| title=Seven New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set| publisher= Slapering Hol Press| year= 2014| isbn= 978-1-94064-658-9 }}

• Caribbean literature
• Caribbean poetry
• American literature

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.livehopelove.com/ Kwame Dawes & Pulitzer Center on Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica]
• [http://www.kwamedawes.com/ Kwame Dawes Homepage]
• [https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/kwame-dawes Kwame Dawes biography on Poets.org]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawes, Kwame}}

Category:1962 births

Category:20th-century Ghanaian poets

Category:20th-century Jamaican poets

Category:20th-century Ghanaian male writers

Category:21st-century Ghanaian poets

Category:21st-century Jamaican poets

Category:21st-century Ghanaian male writers

Category:Ghanaian male poets

Category:Jamaican male poets

Category:Literary critics of English

Category:Living people

Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty

Category:University of New Brunswick alumni

Category:University of South Carolina faculty

Category:University of the West Indies alumni

Category:Writers from South Carolina

Category:People educated at Jamaica College