Kwame Dawes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kwame Dawes
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Dawes at Split This Rock, 2018
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| Born | Kwame Senu Neville Dawes 28 July 1962 Ghana |
| Occupation | Poet, documentary writer, editor, critic |
| Nationality | Ghanaian |
| Education | Jamaica College; University of the West Indies; University of New Brunswick |
| Spouse | Lorna Dawes |
| Parents | Sophia and Neville Dawes |
Kwame Senu Neville Dawes (born July 28, 1962) is a famous poet, teacher, and writer from Ghana. He has also worked as an actor and musician. He taught at the University of South Carolina and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In 2024, he became a professor at Brown University. He helps lead the African Poetry Book Fund, which supports poets from Africa. He was also the editor-in-chief of Prairie Schooner magazine for many years. Kwame Dawes has written over thirty books of poetry, plus novels, essays, and critical works. He has won many important awards, including an Emmy Award in 2009 and the Windham-Campbell Prize in 2019. In April 2024, he was named the new poet laureate of Jamaica. He is also a Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of American Poets.
Contents
Biography
Early Life and School
Kwame Dawes was born in Ghana in 1962. His parents are Sophia and Neville Dawes. In 1971, his family moved to Kingston, Jamaica. His father became a leader at the Institute of Jamaica. Kwame grew up in Jamaica and went to Jamaica College. He then studied at the University of the West Indies in Mona, where he earned his first degree in 1983.
He continued his studies in New Brunswick, Canada. There, he received a special scholarship called the Commonwealth Scholarship. In 1992, he earned his PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of New Brunswick. While studying, he was also the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Brunswickan.
His Career
From 1992 to 2012, Dawes taught English at the University of South Carolina (USC). He was a special poet there and directed the South Carolina Poetry Initiative. He also led the USC Arts Institute.
In 1994, he won the Forward Poetry Prize for his first poetry book, Progeny of Air.
He also taught at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He was a teacher for the Cave Canem Foundation and in a special writing program in Oregon.
Kwame Dawes worked with musician Kevin Simmonds on a project called Wisteria: Twilight Songs from the Swamp Country. This show was first performed in London in 2006.
In 2009, Dawes won an Emmy Award. This award was for a special project that showed how HIV/AIDS affected people in Jamaica. The project included his poetry, photos, and music. The website Livehopelove.com shares this important work.
Dawes is also the director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. This is a big yearly event for writers in Jamaica.
From 2011 to 2025, Dawes was the editor of the literary magazine Prairie Schooner.
In 2011, he received the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award. This award honors writers who help other writers or the wider writing community.
In 2012, the African Poetry Book Fund was created, and Dawes became its first editor. This fund helps publish books by African poets. It also gives out the Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry, which is a major award for poetry collections from across Africa.
In 2018, Dawes became a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. In the same year, he was made an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. This honor is for his important contributions to literature.
In 2019, he won the Windham-Campbell Prize. This is a very important award for writers.
In 2021, Dawes took over as the host of the news column American Life in Poetry.
In 2022, he was named "Literary Person of the Year" by the African literary blog Brittle Paper. This award recognizes someone who has done great work to help African literature.
In April 2024, Kwame Dawes was named the poet laureate of Jamaica for three years. Also in 2024, he joined the faculty at Brown University as a Professor of Literary Arts.
Awards and Honours
- 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
- 2018: Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- 2019: Windham–Campbell Literature Prize in Poetry
- 2022: Brittle Paper's Literary Person of the Year
- 2024–2027: Poet laureate of Jamaica
- 2025: National Books Critics Circle Award for Poetry for his book, "Sturge Town"
Works
Poetry
- Progeny of Air, Peepal Tree Press, 1994, ISBN: 978-0-948833-68-7
- Resisting the Anomie, Fredericton, 1995, ISBN: 978-0-864921-47-5
- 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
- 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
- I Saw Your Face, with Tom Feelings, Dial Books, 2005, ISBN: 978-0-803718-94-4
- Wisteria: Twilight Songs from the Swamp Country, Red Hen Press, 2006, ISBN: 978-1-597090-59-9
- Impossible Flying, Peepal Tree Press, 2007, ISBN: 978-1-845230-39-5
- Hope's Hospice, Peepal Tree Press, 2009, ISBN: 978-1-845230-78-4
- 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
- City of Bones: A Testament, Northwestern University Press, 2017, ISBN: 978-0810134-62-1
Novels
- Bivouac, Peepal Tree Press Ltd, 2010, ISBN: 978-1-84523-105-7
Short Stories
- A Place to Hide and Other Stories, Peepal Tree Press, 2003, ISBN: 978-1-900715-48-5
Non-fiction
- Natural Mysticism: Towards a Reggae Aesthetic, Peepal Tree Press, 1999, ISBN: 978-1-900715-22-5
- 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
See also
- Caribbean literature
- Caribbean poetry
- American literature
