Forward Prizes for Poetry
1 appearances
-
Edition 3 (1994) Winner
Kwame Dawes
クワメ・ドーズ
Kwame Dawes
Aliases:
Kwame Senu Neville Dawes
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1962-07-28 （Ghana）
- Nationality
- Ghanaian
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Ghana → Kingston, Jamaica → United States
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, academic, critic, actor, musician, editor
- Active Years
- 1983-2025
- Affiliations
- University of South Carolina, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Brown University, African Poetry Book Fund
- Memberships
- Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of American Poets, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- Influenced By
- Neville Dawes
- Influenced
- Contemporary African poets
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaica College | — | — | — | — | Jamaica |
| University of the West Indies | — | English | BA | Monaキャンパス | Jamaica |
| University of New Brunswick | — | Comparative Literature | PhD | — | Canada |
Jamaica College
Country:
Jamaica
Secondary school
University of the West Indies
English
Degree:
BA
Period:
Monaキャンパス
Year of Graduation:
1983
Country:
Jamaica
University of New Brunswick
Comparative Literature
Degree:
PhD
Year of Graduation:
1992
Country:
Canada
Commonwealth Scholarship
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Forward Poetry Prize | Progeny of Air | Best First Collection | Forward Prizes for Poetry | Winner |
| 2003 | Commonwealth Writers Prize | — | Caribbean and Canada Region, Best First Book | — | Winner |
| 2009 | Emmy Award | LiveHopeLove project | New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Arts, Lifestyle & Culture | — | Winner |
| 2011 | Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award | — | — | Poets & Writers | Winner |
| 2019 | Windham-Campbell Prize | — | Poetry | — | Winner |
| 2025 | National Book Critics Circle Award | Sturge Town | Poetry | — | Winner |
Forward Poetry Prize
1994
Work:
Progeny of Air
Category:
Best First Collection
Organization:
Forward Prizes for Poetry
Result:
Winner
Commonwealth Writers Prize
2003
Category:
Caribbean and Canada Region, Best First Book
Result:
Winner
Emmy Award
2009
Work:
LiveHopeLove project
Category:
New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Arts, Lifestyle & Culture
Result:
Winner
Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award
2011
Organization:
Poets & Writers
Result:
Winner
Windham-Campbell Prize
2019
Category:
Poetry
Result:
Winner
National Book Critics Circle Award
2025
Work:
Sturge Town
Category:
Poetry
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
The Donald Windham Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes
1 appearances
-
Edition 7 (2019) Winner
Works
Major Works
Progeny of Air
1994 PoetryDebut poetry collection, winner of Forward Poetry Prize.
IdentityCaribbean
City of Bones: A Testament
2017 PoetryPoetry collection.
She's Gone
2007 NovelNovel.
Bibliography
- Progeny of Air
- Resisting the Anomie
- Prophets
- She's Gone
- Duppy Conqueror: New and Selected Poems
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Multicultural perspectiveReggae aesthetic influence
- Recurring Motifs
- Caribbean cultureIdentityHIV/AIDS
Legacy
Ghanaian-born Jamaican poet, published over 30 poetry books, multiple international awards, director of African Poetry Book Fund, Jamaica's Poet Laureate (2024-2027).
In Popular Culture
- Prominent figure in Caribbean literature
Quotes
-
...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.
Source: Lorna Goodison, Respect Due To Kwame (2016)
Trivia
- Son of Jamaican writer Neville Dawes.
- Appointed Jamaica's Poet Laureate in 2024.
- Editor-in-chief of Prairie Schooner (2011-2025).