The Passing of Poet Kamau Brathwaite
News
Furious Flower mourns the passing of poet Kamau Brathwaite, internationally renowned Barbadian poet and historian, who passed away in his home on Tuesday, February 4th, 2020. He was 89.
Born on May 11, 1930, in the capital city of Barbados, Bridgetown, Brathwaite stood as one of the most venerated symbols of Caribbean literature, his work focusing on the root of the West Indian soul.
As a student, Brathwaite attended Harrison College in Barbados before receiving an honors B.A. at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he also received a Diploma of Education. Between then and earning his Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Sussex, Brathwaite worked as an education officer in Ghana, as well as began a career with the University of the West Indies that would last upwards of 25 years.
His many books of poetry include The Lazarus Poems (2017), Elegguas (2010), Born to Slow Horses (2005), Ancestors (2001), Words Need Love Too (2000), Black + Blues (1995), Roots (1993), and Trenchtown Rock (1993), among others. He is also the author of two plays, Four Plays for Primary Schools (1964) and Odale's Choice (1967), as well as several collections of essays and literary criticism.
Brathwaite’s poetry is renowned for its exploration of the roots of the West Indian soul, tracing a people’s lineage to examine the development of Black communities and culture in the Caribbean. His poems take his readers through history and post-colonial spaces, recreating the settings and voices that the Caribbean people -- former Africans -- experienced.
His focus on the idioms and syntactical formations present in the spoken language of the Caribbean exemplified Brathwaite’s ambition to create a distinctively Caribbean form of poetry.
His exploration and celebration of Caribbean voice and language evokes the movement of reggae, jazz, and blues, lending his poetry African rhythms and timbre.
Because Brathwaite found so much of his inspiration in oral performance and a listening community, he spent a lot of time working to convey that, “the language spoken by Caribbean peoples should be regarded not as a dialect, or subsidiary and inferior form of English, but as a “nation language”, capable of expressing the complexities of Caribbean culture and history.”
Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley praised Brathwaite as "easily one of the titans of post-colonial literature and the arts" after his passing."His chronicling of our past through his magnificent works shone a powerful light on the realities of our present and, in turn, guided our sense of self and national identity.
Brathwaite is survived by his second wife, Beverly Reid, his son, Michael, his granddaughter, Ayisha, and a sister, Joan.
By: Jessica Carter
