Kwame Dawes Writes Olympic Poetry for WSJ August 1, 2012: In celebration of the U.S. Women's Gymnastic Team's stunning victory yesterday, Kwame Dawes has written a poem entitled "The Gymnast." The fifth of a series, The Wall Street Journal posted "The Gymnast" along with Dawes's poem to Michael Phelps and another about an anonymous equine competitor. Read all three poems here. by Harriet Staff

NPR’s Morning Edition and LARB Celebrate the Olympics with Poetry July 27, 2012: Happily, the Poetry Parnassus seems to have inspired a wellspring of poetic events. First, NPR's Morning Edition is hosting a poetry competition every morning next week, somewhat in the style of the original Olympics in ancient Greece: From the far reaches of the globe, we've invited poets to compose original works celebrating [...] by Harriet Staff

“It really has a kind of community vibe and also almost a pilgrimage vibe.” – NPR Reports on a Jamaican Literary Festival July 9, 2012: Founded 12 years ago, Calabash is Jamaica’s signature literary festival. Last week, NPR’s All Thing’s Considered aired a report on the festival, which is ultimately focused on uncovering local voices. However, Calabash co-founder Kwame Dawes selects writers from all over the world to read at the festival’s bamboo lectern: "First [...] by Harriet Staff

Kwame Dawes Announces New African Poetry Book Series June 22, 2012: The newly established African Poetry Book Foundation, headed by Ghanaian-born poet Kwame Dawes, announced a new book series last Friday. Beginning in 2014, the African Poetry Book Series plans to release four books by African poets per year. The series will be co-published by the University of Nebraska Press and the Amalion Press in Senegal, with [...] by Harriet Staff

Coming Up After Kwame Dawes, Today’s Weather Forecast February 28, 2012: Check out Kwame Dawes on Smile Jamaica discussing his life as a poet and playwright, among many other things. Good stuff! by Harriet Staff

“An Antidote to Loneliness” April 18, 2011: Anisa Onofre, co-editor of Aztlan Libre Press, has pointed me to this 1999 article on Norma Alarcón, upon the 20th anniversary of Third Woman Press. I am especially struck by this paragraph: Third Woman Press began originally as an antidote to loneliness, when Alarcón -- a specialist in feminist critical theory, cultural criticism, and [...] by Barbara Jane Reyes

I Aspire to Kwame-ness (Ode to the Desk) April 17, 2011: Prolific output is my weakness, and writers who can crank out poems, pages, chapters, books are my inspiration. They mirror my hunger for more of anything literary, they represent the labor hunched over the desk — backaches, neck pain, the late night struggle of kicking sleep off the face. But, oh what sweet pleasure. Besides Kwame Dawes, [...] by Rigoberto González

We’d Rather Have the Iceberg than the Ship April 10, 2011: Rachel Zucker’s timely post on the timeless immediately brought a certain poem to mind. Then when I saw Kathleen Rooney’s post about the Titanic (sinking like an Oreo in milk!), I thought she had beat me to the punch. The Titanic looms large (as it were) in our household, on account of our having a six-year old boy who can’t get enough of [...] by A.E. Stallings

Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani in conversation February 24, 2011: In his interview with Kwame Dawes for the Lannan Foundation, Chris Abani describes him as "the only one I know who can take money from a funding body to study salmon and end up writing a book about masculinity." The interview begins with a discussion of linguistic code switching-- Abani explains to the audience that in West Africa, being [...] by Harriet Staff

Kwame Dawes reports from Haiti in poetry January 10, 2011: Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Collins has an answer for last week's very serious question: Does poetry matter? Collins cites Kwame Dawes and his travels to Haiti over the past year documenting the "human side" of the earthquake's effects as irrefutable evidence in poetry's favor. The PBS NewsHour, in partnership with USA Today and The [...] by Harriet Staff