Poet and writer Kwame Dawes travels to Jamaica to explore the experience of people living with HIV/AIDS and to examine the ways in which the disease has shaped their lives. The journey brings him in touch with people who tell their stories, share their lives and teach him about resilience, hope and possibility in the face of despair.
AWP Workshop: Poetry as Multimedia Documentary Featuring Kwame Dawes
Published February 6, 2011
Event date:
February 5, 2011 - 12:00pm to 1:15pm
Poet Kwame Dawes speaks at the 2011 Annual Conference for the Association for Writers and Writing Program
Kwame Dawes discusses his poetry and his projects with the Pulitzer Center, including the Emmy Award-winning LiveHopeLove.com, during the workshop "Poetry as Multimedia Documentary." Other participants scheduled to participate are Susan B.A. Somers-Willett, Erika Meitner, Natasha Trethewey and Ted Genoways.
The workshop description:Can poets use the tools of journalism and other media to produce new models of storytelling? Poets reporting from communities in crisis (Jamaica, Haiti, Troy, Detroit, and Gulfport) gather to debate the possibilities of poetry as documentary and discuss their collaborations with radio producers and photographers. Part reading and part discussion, the panel puts into conversation writers whose work blurs the lines between art and journalism through text, photography, audio, and video.
Stephen Sapienza crafts simple but compelling narratives, chronicling the lives and plights of everyday people, from the cities of Bangladesh to the streets of Sierra Leone, writes Ameto Akpe.
Pulitzer Center grantee Kwame Dawes reflects on his work in the Caribbean and his journey as a poet and documentarian.
