Kwame Dawes in 2012. Photo by SLOWKING. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Kwame Senu Neville Dawes (born 28 July 1962) is a Jamaican poet, actor, editor, critic, musician, and academic.[1]
Life[]
Born in Ghana, Dawes grew up in Jamaica where he attended Jamaica College and the University of the West Indies at Mona. He studied and taught in New Brunswick, Canada on a Commonwealth Scholarship.[2] As a Ph.D. student at the University of New Brunswick, he was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Brunswickan.
Dawes reading in 2010. Photo by Georgia Kral. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
Since 1992 he has been teaching English at the University of South Carolina. He is the Louis Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts, and also Distinguished Artist-in-residencePoet in Residence], Director of the South Carolina Poetry Initiative and Director of the USC Arts Institute. He is also the faculty advisor for the publication Yemassee. He won the 1994 Forward Poetry Prize, Best First Collection for Progeny of Air.
Dawes collaborated with San Francisco-based writer and composer Kevin Simmonds on Wisteria: Twilight Songs from the Swamp Country which debuted at Royal Festival Hall in 2006, and featured sopranos Valetta Brinson and Valerie Johnson.
He works as editor-in-chief of the literary magazine, Prairie Schooner. [3][4]
He is director of the Calabash International Literary Festival, Jamaica.[5]
Recognition[]
In 2009, Dawes won an Emmy Award in the category of New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Arts, Lifestyle & Culture.[6] His project documented HIV/AIDS in Jamaica, interspersed with poetry, photographs, and other media. The website "Livehopelove.com" is the culmination of his project.[7][8]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Progeny of Air. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 1994.
- Prophets. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 1995.
- Resisting the Anomie. Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions, 1995.
- Jacko Jacobus. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 1996.
- Requiem: A lament for the dead. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree Press, 1996.
- Shook Foil. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 1997.
- Map-Maker. Byram Arcade, Huddersfield, UK: Smith / Doorstop Books, 2000.
- Midland. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2001; Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions, 2001.
- New and Selected Poems, 1994-2002. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2003.
- Bruised Totems: Poems based on the Bareiss Family Collection of African Art (photographs by George Meister). Madison, WI: Parallel Press, 2004.
- Wisteria: Twilight poems from the swamp country. Los Angeles, CA: Red Hen Press, 2006.
- Gomer's Song. Los Angeles, CA: Black Goat, 2007; New York: Akashic Books, 2008.
- Impossible Flying. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2007.
- Hope's Hospice, and other poems. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2009.
- Back of Mount Peace. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2009.
- Wheels. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2011.
- Duppy Conqueror: New and selected poems (edited by Matthew Shenoda). Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2013; Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2013.
Plays[]
- One Love. London: Methuen, 2001.
Novels[]
- She's Gone. New York: Akashic Books, 2007; Oxford, UK: Macmillan Caribbean, 2008.
- Bivouac. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2010.
Short fiction[]
- A Place to Hide, and other stories. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2003.
Non-fiction[]
- Natural Mysticism: Towards a new reggae aesthetic in Caribbean writing. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 1999.
- Talk yuh talk : interviews with anglophone Caribbean poets. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2001.
- Bob Marley: Lyrical genius. London: Sanctuary, 2002.
- A Far Cry from Plymouth Rock: A personal narrative. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2007.
- Vision and Voices: Conversations with 13 Caribbean playwrights. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2013.
Juvenile[]
- I Saw Your Face. New York: Dial, 2004.
Edited[]
- Wheel and Come Again: An anthology of reggae poetry. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 1998; Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions, 1998.
- Red: An anthology of contemporary Black British poetry. Leeds, UK: Inscribe / Peepal Tree, 2009.
- Neville Dawes, The Last Enchantment. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2009.
- [*Hold Me to an Island: An anthology of writing about Caribbean place (edited with Jeremy Poynting). Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2012.
- So Much Things to Say: Over 100 poets from the first ten years of the Calabash International Literary Festival (edited with Colin Channer). New York: Akashic Books, 2010.
- Home is Where: An anthology of African American poetry from the Carolinas. Spartanburg, SC: Hub City Press, 2011.
- Hold Me to an Island: An anthology of writing about Caribbean place (edited with Jeremy Poynting). Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2012.
- Neville Dawes, Fugue, and other writings: Selected poetry, short stories, autobiographical prose, and critical writing. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2012.
- Jubilation! Poems celebrating 50 years of Jamaican independence. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2012.
- Seeking: Poetry inspired by the art of Jonathan Green (edited with Marjory Wentworth). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2013.
- Seven strong : a South Carolina poetry book prize reader, 2006-2012 edited with Marjory Wentworth). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2013.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[9]
Audio / video[]
Poetry Everywhere "Tornado Child" by Kwame Dawes
- Go de Rass to Sleep: A Jamaican patois translation (with Adam Mansbach, Shaggy, Ricardo Cortés, & Kellie Magnus; audiobook). Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audio, 2014.[9]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth02A4P155412626349
- ↑ http://www.peepaltreepress.com/author_display.asp?au_id=16
- ↑ http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/people/pages/dawes.html
- ↑ http://www.scbookfestival.org/index.php?c=authors&s=authors_category&id=56
- ↑ Kwame Dawes, Poetry Foundation. Web, Jan. 5, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=121304064644348&z_Issue_ID=11012209090881439&ShowArchiveArticle_ID=11012209092112506&Year=2009
- ↑ http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Entertainment/html/20090922T190000-0500_160236_OBS_PROFESSOR_KWAME_DAWES_WINS_EMMY_FOR_HIV_PROJECT.asp "1"
- ↑ http://www.thestate.com/2011/01/09/1635430/haiti-through-a-poets-eyes.html
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Search results = au:Kwame Dawes, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 5, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- "'Some Tentative Definitions I" at Caribbean Poetry.
- Kwame Dawes at the Poetry Foundation
- Books
- Works by or about Kwame Dawes in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Audio / video
- About
- Kwame Dawes Official website.
- Kwame Dawes & Pulitzer Center on living and loving with HIV in Jamaica
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