Award-winning poet, author and editor Kwame Dawes, PhD, published his first weekly column as editor American Life in Poetry, in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and relaunches a new and engaging website to connect people to poetry through interests, geography and representation.
Dawes takes the column further after the founding editor and curator, Ted Kooser, retired after 15 years as the project’s creator and editor.
The first poem presented is “They Dance Through Granelli’s” by Pat Emile – a tribute to the project’s editorial assistant, recently retired, 15 years ago.
Dawes seeks to maintain and expand the original view of the column, continuing to reach readers through the local media, as well as subscribers to the newsletter that is published weekly on Mondays.
“This column is rooted in everyday life, the broad sense of Americanity that avoids elitism and that embraces a democratic sense of life that makes sense to a large part of the population,” said Dawes. “I welcome readers who can get involved in a wide section of American life, can find poetry that talks about various aspects of American existence and that somehow covers the entire length of this America.”
Along with a completely revamped visual statement, the site features enhanced navigation and discovery features, new photographs and a greater presence on social media. Front and center allow users to browse previous columns by theme and region.
“The website allows readers to delve into what they can see in the newsletter or on social media,” said Dawes. “We want readers to stay on the site for a while and feel comfortable with poetry, or to find new ways to get involved with poems, whether through love of sports or geography.”
Dawes hopes that new readers will connect with American Life in Poetry, finding columns that are accessible and that speak to their interests, especially for new poetry readers.
With over 60 different themes that can be combined during the search, users can find a poem that talks about gardening and unrequited love in the archive that includes more than 800 poems.
Dawes is the author of 22 books of poetry and several other books on fiction, criticism and essays. His collection, “Nebraska”, was published in 2020.
He is Professor of English at George W. Holmes University, Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and also teaches at the Pacific MFA Program.
He is director of the African Poetry Book Fund and Artistic Director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. Dawes is Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and a Member of the Royal Society of Literature.
His awards include an Emmy, National Press Club Joan Friedenberg Award for Online Journalism, Forward Poetry Award, Musgrave Silver Medal for Contribution to the Arts in Jamaica, Governor’s Award for Art Services in South Carolina, a Guggenheim Scholarship and the Windham Campbell Poetry Award. In 2009, he was admitted to the South Carolina Authors Academy.
The Poetry Foundation, editor of the magazine Poetry, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence of poetry in American culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and bring it to the widest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in creating a receptive climate for poetry, developing new audiences, creating new paths for delivery and encouraging new types of poetry through innovative literary programs and awards.