The 2025 William W. Cook Lecture Will Feature Kwame Dawes

The William W. Cook Lecture, part of The Black Life and Letters Lecture Series, is held annually in honor of William W. Cook, who was, for many years, an admired, leading member of the English and Creative Writing Department, and the African and African American Studies Program, which he helped to found. He is the co-author, with James Tatum of the Dartmouth Classics Department, of the prizing winning-book, African American Writers and the Classical Tradition (Chicago, 2010). 

This year's lecture will be given by poet and scholar Kwame Dawes and is titled "The Negro Artist and the NEW Racial Mountain: Revisiting Langston Hughes in the 21st Century." It will take place in the Sanborn Library of Sanborn House from 5:00 to 6:00 pm on Monday, May 19.

Dawes is the author of numerous books of poetry and other books of fiction, criticism, and essays. His most recent collection is Sturge Town (Peepal Tree Press, UK 2023). Dawes is Professor of Literary Arts at Brown University. He teaches in the Pacific MFA Program and is the Series Editor of the African Poetry Book Series, Director of the African Poetry Book Fund, and Artistic Director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. He is a Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Kwame Dawes is the winner of the prestigious Windham/Campbell Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. In 2022 Dawes was awarded the Order of Distinction Commander class by the Government of Jamaica. He is the Poet Laureate of Jamaica (2024-2027).