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Quote by Kwame Dawes

“I believe that many lives around us now can reflect this strange pattern of migration and movement. The question is: are we aware of it, and do we embrace it as a kind of birthright? I do. And yet, I feel deeply connected to at least two homespaces - Jamaica and Ghana, and more recently, South Carolina.”

Quote by Kwame Dawes

Author

Kwame Dawes is a renowned poet, born on July 28, 1962. His poetry is deeply influenced by Caribbean and African cultures, known for its unique style and profound themes. more

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“I have dear friends in South Carolina, folks who made my life there wonderful and meaningful. Two of my children were born there. South Carolina's governor awarded me the highest award for the arts in the state. I was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors. I have lived and worked among the folks in Sumter, South Carolina, for so many years. South Carolina has been home, and to be honest, it was easier for me to define myself as a South Carolinian than even as an American.”

“The rich and complex history of South Carolina is the history of the African diaspora, and in many ways, I felt acutely the sense of this collective memory of migration, suffering and transformation while living in South Carolina.”

Way Suffering Felt Memories Rich Transformation South Complexes Collectives Carolina Migration South Carolina Diaspora Collective Memory

Author:Kwame Dawes

“One of the blessings and curses of my life is that I carry so many projects at the same time.”

Life Is Blessing Projects Curse Blessings And Curses

Author:Kwame Dawes

“The aesthetic, as I understand it, is really about the way in which we understand beauty and speak and think about beauty.”

Thinking Way Speak Aesthetic

Author:Kwame Dawes

“In reggae I have a model of artistic excellence and possibility that is challenging and inspiring. The poem remains a demanding thing - an object to be understood and shaped into my own sense of self, the same is true of the play, the novel, the short story. Yet, for some reason, I approach these existing genres with the kind of confidence that the reggae artist approaches any song floating around out there.”

Kind Self Reason Play Stories Artist Song Challenges My Own Novel Possibility Objects Approach Models Understood Remains Excellence Artistic Genre Short Story Floating Sense Of Self Reggae

Author:Kwame Dawes

“For me, reggae music and its aesthetic are touchstones in both simple and complex ways. Reggae's capacity to be a folk music that is created in a wholly modern context of the recording studio (and sometimes that is the sole performance space) is riddled with the kinds of contradictory impulses that we have come to expect from the post-modern. I revel in this, for it gives me, shall I say, permission.”

“I believe that all fiction is personal and all writing is at some level personal.”

Writing Believe I Believe Levels Fiction

Author:Kwame Dawes

“All memory is fiction.”

Memories Fiction

Author:Kwame Dawes

“As you may know, my motto is: "All memory is fiction." It could just as easily be: "All fiction is memory." Unpacked, these two statements defy the ease of logic, but offer some really important truths about narrative art, at the very least, and about memory. So I would say that all art is personal.”

Knows May Art Two Important Memories Fiction Offers Art Is Logic Statements Narrative Ease Motto My Motto Narrative Art

Author:Kwame Dawes

“In a sense, I feel like the job of the artist at all times is essentially the same, which is simply to tell the truth. I mean, I'm nervous about any prescriptions for what a writer should or shouldn't do.”

Feels Should Mean Jobs Artist Nervous All Time Telling The Truth Prescriptions

Author:Tony Kushner