Mapmaker: Kwame Dawes and the Caribbean Literary Aesthetic

The first literary critical monograph on one of the most significant and influential figures in contemporary Caribbean writing, this unique study examines the connections between Kwame Dawes’ diverse publications and offers insightful and sensitive readings of Dawes’ core work. First introducing his literary career and providing a brief biography, the resource goes on to give commentary on A Far Cry from Plymouth Rock, his memoir, and discusses the literary and cultural influences that helped shape his writing aesthetic. The guide also examines his poetry, religious influences and symbols in his writing, and the use of Africa as a spiritual locus that, alongside the Bible, centers the identity of his characters. Rounding out the comprehensive volume are chapters on Dawes’ representations of women and the feminine–with emphasis placed on his poetry collections Wisteria and Midlands–the role of landscape and physicality in his poetry, and a thorough examination of Dawes as the new voice of the Caribbean.