Poem of the Week: “Rituals Before the Poem” by Kwame Dawes

The VPR Poem of the Week is Kwame Dawes’s “Rituals Before the Poem,” which appeared in the Fall/Winter 2009-2010 issue (Volume XI, Number 1) of Valparaiso Poetry Review. This poem also has been published in Poetry from Paradise Valley, an anthology of poems from the first decade of VPR, recently published by Pecan Grove Press. In addition, an audio presentation of this work by Nic Sebastian can be found at her delightful web site, Whale Sound.

Kwame Dawes is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, as well as various books of fiction, criticism, nonfiction, and drama. He is Distinguished Poet-in-Residence at the University of South Carolina, where he directs the S.C. Poetry Initiative and the University of South Carolina Arts Institute. Dawes is also the programming director of the Calabash International Literary Festival that takes place each May in Jamaica.

Tuesday of each week One Poet’s Notes highlights an excellent work by a poet selected from the issues of Valparaiso Poetry Review, except when other posts with news or updates preempt the usual appearance of this item, with the recommendation that readers visit it.