Kwame Dawes and Lorna Dawes know there is a wealth of poetry from African authors out there. Thousands of poems, they say, sit in universities and libraries across the world, waiting to be catalogued, translated, digitized and promoted.

The pair of Brown University researchers is committed to sharing this wealth of poetry with the world, and they’ll work to do so with support from a $2 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Professor Kwame Dawes has been elected as member of the prestigious American Academy of Arts & Sciences in spring 2025. Professor Dawes joined the Literary Arts department at Brown in January of this year.

Kwame Dawes, Professor of Literary Arts at Brown and newly-named Poet Laureate of Jamaica, talks about poetry with Artscape reporter, Luis Hernandez.

Robert Coover, TB Stowell Adjunct Professor, is remembered for is writing, his teaching and his advocacy on behalf of new forms of literature in print and digital frameworks.

Jennifer Levin and John Eisendrath have designed their spring 2026 Advanced Screenwriting workshop to reflect the dynamics of a writers' room. And the workshop members have good things to report.

Kwame Dawes, professor of Literary Arts, has been recognized for his literary contributions by being named as Poet Laureate of Jamaica.

Francesca Mari, assistant professor of the practice, has written a thoughtful and empathic account of responding to a family member's dementia.

We extend our condolences to the family and friends of Shay Youngblood, who earned an MFA from Brown in playwriting in 1993.

The department of Literary Arts extends heartfelt condolences to the McCormack family as we mark the death of alumnus Thomas McCormack, who was regarded as a ground-breaking editor at St. Martin's Press. Owing to his generosity, the department hosts most of our on-campus events in the McCormack Family Theater

Governor Dan McKee named Colin Channer as Rhode Island’s 7th Poet Laureate. Colin Channer is associate professor or Literary Arts at Brown University and author, most recently, of Console, a book of poems.

“Colin Channer is an accomplished writer whose talent and work have touched the lives of so many people,” said Governor McKee. “I’m excited to see him continue his craft here in the Ocean State where he will not just be a leader in poetry but serve as a poetry and literary inspiration to Rhode Islanders across our state.”

The announcement was made on Friday, 1 March 2024.

Stine An, alumna of the MFA program at Brown has been awarded a fellowship for translation by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Michael Antonucci ’88 has recently published Understanding Michael S. Harper, an invaluable exploration of Professor Harper's life and poetry. Professor Harper, who died in 2016, served as mentor for generations of Brown students and taught for the Literary Arts department for 43 years.

“Open again a turn of light,” written by Brown faculty members Eric Nathan and Sawako Nakayasu, will premiere on Saturday, Oct. 21, part of the inaugural public performance at The Lindemann Performing Arts Center.

Literary Arts congratulates Bhion Achimba, MFA class of 2022, for receiving the prestigious Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship. On October 21, 2023, a special event at the Poetry Foundation will bring all five fellows together for the first time for a free public reading to share their poetry and celebrate their accomplishments.

Keith Waldrop, professor emeritus, who died 27 July, is remembered in the New York Times.

Associate Professor Karan Mahajan's latest work of fiction, The True Margaret, may be read through the New Yorker's online site.

Keith Waldrop, recipient of the National Book Award in Poetry, died on 27 July 2023. Keith retired from Brown as Brooke Russell Astor Professor in 2011; a distinguished poet and translator, he was named Chevalier of Arts and Letters from the French government. Keith and his wife, Rosmarie, ran Burning Deck Press for over 50 years and published over 200 books.

Laura Colella is leading an intensive filmmaking course foregrounding hands-on collaborative work, giving students a chance to gain experience and confidence.

Aya Natalia Karpinska, MFA '03, was part of the design team that won the prestigious Core 77 Design Award for Interaction. The team created an augmented reality experience for a gallery of photographs in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Alison C. Rollins and Azareen van der Vliet Oloomi have been named recipients of 2023-24 Radcliffe Fellowships by Harvard University.

Alumni have received recognitions this spring; and others have new books out or forthcoming.

Colin Channer has been honored by Poets & Writers as recipient of a Writers for Writers award for 2023. The award is given to writers who have been given generously to other writers and to literature more generally. Colin Channer, associate professor in Literary Arts, was recognized for co-founding the Calabash International Literary Festival, and supporting end encouraging writers from the African diaspora, the Americas, Europe and Asia, and helping readers in th Caribbean and worldwide discover an ever-growing body of literature.

Assistant Professor of Literary Arts Sawako Nakayasu is one of four co-translators awarded the Modern Language Association’s 2021 Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for a Translation of Literary Work for their translation of Yi Sang: Selected Works, published by Wave Books.

A Literary Arts faculty member and an alumna have been short-listed for the 2021 National Book Awards.

Jay Gao MFA '22 reports that his debut poetry collection, Imperium, has been accepted for August 2022 publication by Carcanet Press.

Chibuihe Obi Achimba has been selected by the St. Botolp Club Foundation as an Emerging Artist of 2021.