Kamau Brathwaite

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Edward Kamau Brathwaite Template:Post-nominals (Template:IPAc-en; 11 May 1930 – 4 February 2020),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was a Barbadian poet and academic, widely considered one of the major voices in the Caribbean literary canon.<ref name=NYU>Staff (2011). "Kamau Brathwaite.", New York University, Department of Comparative Literature.</ref> Formerly a professor of Comparative Literature at New York University,<ref name=NYU /> Brathwaite was the 2006 International Winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize, for his volume of poetry Born to Slow Horses.<ref name="The Griffin Trust for Excellency in Poetry">Staff (2006). "Kamau Brathwaite.", The Griffin Poetry Prize. The Griffin Poetry Prize, 2006.</ref>

Brathwaite held a doctorate degree from the University of Sussex (1968)<ref name=NBWC>Staff (2010). "Bios – Kamau Brathwaite.", The Center for Black Literature. The National Black Writers Conference, 2010.</ref> and was the co-founder of the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM).<ref name=PoetryInternational>Robert Dorsman, translated by Ko Kooman (1999). "Kamau Brathwaite" Template:Webarchive, Poetry International Web.</ref> He received both the Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships in 1983,<ref name=NBWC /> and was a winner of the 1994 Neustadt International Prize for Literature,<ref name=NBWC /> the Bussa Award, the Casa de las Américas Prize for poetry,<ref name=NBWC /> and the 1999 Charity Randall Citation for Performance and Written Poetry from the International Poetry Forum.<ref name="Reiss2002">Template:Cite book</ref>

Brathwaite was noted<ref name="AnniePaul2007">Template:Cite book</ref> for his studies of Black cultural life both in Africa and throughout the African diasporas of the world in works such as Folk Culture of the Slaves in Jamaica (1970); The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica, 1770–1820 (1971); Contradictory Omens (1974); Afternoon of the Status Crow (1982); and History of the Voice (1984), the publication of which established him as the authority of note on nation language.<ref>Montague Kobbe, "Caribbean Identity and Nation Language in Kamau Brathwaite's Poetry" Template:Webarchive, Latineos, 23 December 2010.</ref><ref>Carolyn Cooper, "Fi Wi Nation, Fi Wi Language", Jamaica Woman Tongue, 13 November 2011.</ref>

Brathwaite often made use of a combination of customized typefaces (some resembling dot matrix printing) and spelling, referred to as Sycorax video style.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Biography

Early life and education

Lawson Edward Brathwaite was born in the capital city of Bridgetown, Barbados, to Hilton and Beryl (Gill) Brathwaite.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He began his secondary education in 1945 at Harrison College in Bridgetown, and while there wrote essays on jazz for a school newspaper that he started, as well as contributing articles to the literary magazine Bim.<ref name=eNotes>Staff (2001). "Brathwaite, Edward Kamau – Biographical Information", eNotes Literature Criticism, Poetry Criticism, Edward Kamau Brathwaite Criticism.</ref> In 1949 he won the Barbados Island Scholarship to attend the University of Cambridge, where he studied English and History.<ref name=eNotes /> In 1953, Brathwaite received a B.A. honours degree in history from Pembroke College, Cambridge,<ref name=NBWC /><ref name=eNotes /> and he also began his association with the BBC's Caribbean Voices programme in London, where many of his poems and stories were broadcast.<ref name=eNotes /> In 1954 he received a Diploma of Education from Pembroke College, Cambridge.

The years in Ghana

The year 1955 found Brathwaite working as an education officer in the Gold Coast with the Ministry of Education. This saw him "witness Kwame Nkrumah coming to power and Ghana becoming the first African state to gain independence, which profoundly affected his sense of Caribbean culture and identity", and Brathwaite was also able to study with the musicologist J. H. Kwabena Nketia.<ref name=Innes />

In 1960, while on home leave from Ghana, Brathwaite married Doris Monica Wellcome,<ref name=eNotes /> a Guyanese graduate in Home Economics and Tropical Nutrition from the University of Leicester,<ref name="Walmsley1992">Template:Cite book</ref> with whom he had a son, Michael.<ref name=Innes />

Brathwaite's writing flowered during his years in Ghana, with Odale's Choice (a play) premiering at the Mfantsiman Secondary School in Cape Coast, in June 1962.<ref>James Gibbs, Nkyin-kyin: Essays on the Ghanaian Theatre, Rodopi, 2009, p. 43.</ref> A full production of the play was later taken to Accra.

Return to the Caribbean and the UK

In 1962–63, Brathwaite crossed the waters again and found himself as resident tutor in the Department of Extra-Mural Studies in St Lucia. Later in 1963, he made his journey to the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica, to teach in the history department.

In 1966, he spearheaded, as co-founder and secretary, the organization of the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) from London,<ref name=PoetryInternational /> other key figures involved being John La Rose and Andrew Salkey.<ref>"John La Rose", GPI website.</ref><ref>Kathleen Ho, "The Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) and the Trinidad February Revolution of 1970", Northwestern University.</ref>

In 1971, Brathwaite launched Savacou, a journal of CAM, at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica. That same year, he received the name Kamau from Ngugi wa Thiong'o's grandmother at Limuru, Kenya, while on a City of Nairobi Fellowship to the University of Nairobi.<ref name=Innes>Innes, Lyn (5 February 2020), "Edward Kamau Brathwaite obituary", The Guardian.</ref>

His doctoral thesis from Sussex University on The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica was published in 1971 by Oxford University Press, and in 1973 he published what is generally considered his best work, The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy, comprising three earlier volumes: Rights of Passage (1967), Masks (1968) and Islands (1969).<ref name=OCMPE>Mario Relich, 

"Brathwaite, E. K. (Edward Kamau)", in  Jeremy Noel-Tod, Ian Hamilton (eds), The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry in English, Oxford University Press, Second edition 2013, pp. 67–68.</ref> An exhaustive bibliography of his work, entitled EKB: His Published Prose & Poetry, 1948–1986 was produced by his wife, Doris Monica Brathwaite, in 1986.<ref>Doris Monica Brathwaite, EKB: His Published Prose & Poetry, 1948–1986, Savacou Cooperative, 1986, Template:Isbn.</ref><ref name="BrathwaitePaquet1993+2003">Template:Cite book</ref> In response to her death later that year, Brathwaite wrote The Zea Mexican Diary: 7 September 1926 – 7 September 1986.<ref name=OCMPE /><ref name="BrathwaitePaquet1993+2003" />

Brathwaite described the years from 1986 to 1990 as a "time of salt", in which he chronicled the death of his wife in 1986, the destruction of his archive in Irish Town, Jamaica, by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, and his near-death experience as a result of a Kingston shooting in 1990.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

"Maroon years" and afterwards

Kamau Brathwaite spent three self-financed "Maroon Years", 1997 to 2000, at "Cow Pasture", his now famous and, then, "post-hurricane" home in Barbados. In 1998, he married Beverly Reid, a Jamaican.<ref name=Innes />

In 1992, Brathwaite took up the position of Professor of Comparative Literature at New York University, subsequently dividing his residence between Barbados and New York.<ref>"Edward Kamau Brathwaithe" Template:Webarchive, Puerto Rico Encyclopedia.</ref>

In 1994, he was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature for his body of work, nominated by Ghanaian poet and author Kofi Awoonor, edging out other nominees including; Toni Morrison, Norman Mailer, and Chinua Achebe.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2002 the University of Sussex presented Kamau Brathwaite with an honorary doctorate.<ref>"University of Sussex awards honorary degrees" (press release), 15 July 2002.</ref>

In 2004, after his retirement from New York University, Brathwaite began chronicling a Second Time of Salt, musing on what he deemed a "cultural lynching."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2006, he was the sole person that year to be awarded a Musgrave gold medal by the Institute of Jamaica, with eight silver and bronze medals going to other recipients.<ref>"Nine awarded IOJ Musgrave medals for '06" Template:Webarchive, Jamaica Gleaner, 17 September 2006.</ref><ref>"Institute of Jamaica Awards 9 Musgrave Medals", Jamaica Information Service, 5 October 2006.</ref><ref>"Brathwaite gets Musgrave gold" Template:Webarchive, Jamaica Gleaner, 5 October 2006.</ref> In 2010, Brathwaite reported the theft of the medal, as well as other items from his New York City home in the previous four years.<ref>Livern Barrett, "Kamau Brathwaite's Musgrave Medal Stolen", The Gleaner, 5 April 2010.</ref><ref>"(Part 1) Kamau Brathwaite disgraced abroad...", The Bajan Reporter, 16 March 2010.</ref><ref>"(Part 2) Kamau Brathwaite: No justice at Cow Pasture nor NYC...", The Bajan Reporter, 18 March 2010.</ref>

Brathwaite was Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at New York University and resided in Cow Pasture, Barbados.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="upne.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He died aged 89 on 4 February 2020, and was accorded an official funeral on 21 February.<ref>"Official funeral for Kamau Brathwaite", Barbados Today, 15 February 2020.</ref><ref>"St. Martin cultural activists/writers attend Kamau Brathwaite's funeral in Barbados". The Daily Herald, 25 February 2020.</ref>

Posthumous recognition and legacy

Shortly before his death, Brathwaite was offered and had accepted the Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters, presented annually at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest.<ref>"Bocas Lit Fest to honour literary icon", Trinidad & Tobago Guardian, 6 February 2010.</ref> Announcing that the award, which recognises his contribution as a literary critic, literary activist, editor, and author on topics of Caribbean literature, as well as honouring the year of his 90th birthday, would be presented to his family in Barbados at a ceremony March, Bocas founder and director Marina Salandy-Brown said: "It now seems even more significant to honour him and, in this time of mourning, it is a small consolation to know that news of the award brought Prof Brathwaite pleasure in his final days."<ref>Tyrell Gittens, "Bocas Lit Fest to posthumously honour Kamau Brathwaite", Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 6 February 2010.</ref>

On 22 October 2020, a commissioned portrait of Brathwaite, painted by Errol Lloyd, was unveiled at his alma mater Pembroke College, Cambridge.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Honours and awards

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Selected works

  • Four Plays for Primary Schools (1964)
  • Odale's Choice (1967)
  • Rights of Passage (1967)
  • Masks (1968)
  • Islands (1969)
  • Folk Culture of the Slaves in Jamaica (1970)
  • The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica, 1770–1820 (1971)
  • The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy (Rights of Passage; Islands; Masks) (1973)
  • Contradictory Omens: Cultural Diversity and Integration in the Caribbean (1974)
  • Other Exiles 1975. Template:ISBN, Template:OCLC
  • Days & Nights (Caldwell, 1975)
  • Black + Blues 1976. Template:ISBN, Template:OCLC
  • Mother Poem (1977)
  • Soweto (1979)
  • History of the Voice (1979)
  • Jamaica Poetry (1979)
  • Barbados Poetry (1979)
  • Sun Poem (1982)
  • Afternoon of the Status Crow (1982)
  • Gods of the Middle Passage (1982)
  • Third World Poems (1983)
  • History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Language in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry (1984)
  • Jah Music (1986)
  • X/Self (1987)
  • Sappho Sakyi's Meditations (1989)
  • Shar (1992)
  • Middle Passages (1992)
  • The Zea Mexican Diary: 7 September 1926 – 7 September 1986 1993. Template:ISBN, Template:OCLC
  • Trench Town Rock (1994) Template:ISBN
  • Barabajan Poems (1994)
  • DreamStories (1994)
  • Dream Haiti (Savacou North, 1995)
  • Words Need Love Too (2000)
  • Ancestors (New Directions, 2001). Template:ISBN, Template:OCLC
  • Magical Realism (2002)
  • Golokwati (2002)
  • Born to Slow Horses (2006), Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press. Template:ISBN, Template:OCLC (winner of the 2006 International Griffin Poetry Prize)
  • Limbo. As published in Oxford AQA GCSE English Anthology, 2005 and 2008
  • Template:Cite book
  • Strange Fruit (Peepal Tree Press, 2016). Template:ISBN, Template:OCLC<ref>Brathwaite, Kamau, Strange Fruit, Peepal Tree Press.</ref>
  • Liviticus (2017), House of Nehesi Publishers.
  • The Lazarus Poems (2017). Template:ISBN, Template:OCLC<ref name="upne.com"/>

Translations

  • [Fr] Kamau Brathwaite, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} / The Visibility Trigger, traduction par Maria-Francesca Mollica et Christine Pagnoulle, Louvain: Cahiers de Louvain, 1986.
  • [Es] Kamau Brathwaite, Los danzantes del tiempo: antología poética, selección, introducción y entrevista, Christopher Winks; versión en español Adriana González Mateos y Christopher Winks, México: Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, 2009.
  • [Es] Kamau Brathwaite, La unidad submarina: ensayos caribeños, Selección, estudio preliminar y entrevista de Florencia Bonfiglio, Buenos Aires: Katatay, 2010.
  • [It] Kamau Brathwaite, "Retamar", "Word-Making Man", "The New Year Midnight Poems", "Nest", "Calabash", "Song", cura e traduzione di Andrea Gazzoni, La Rivista dell'Arte, 2:2 (2012), 168–212.1
  • [Fr] Kamau Brathwaite, RêvHaïti, traduction par Christine Pagnoulle, Montréal: Mémoire d'Encrier, 2013.
  • [It] Kamau Brathwaite, Diritti di passaggio, cura e traduzione di Andrea Gazzoni, Rome: Ensemble Edizioni, 2014.
  • [It] Kamau Brathwaite, "Missile e capsula", in Andrea Gazzoni, Pensiero caraibico: Kamau Brathwaite, Alejo Carpentier, Édouard Glissant, Derek Walcott, Rome: Ensemble Edizioni, 2016.

Critical writing about Brathwaite

See also

References

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