Caribbean

Poet Kwame Dawes provided the words for HOPE & Wisteria, two back-to-back performance pieces that explore different aspects of the black experience. But his contribution, vital as it is, is only one part of the puzzle. Each production is a multimedia piece using music, images and Dawes' poetry.

The musicians and singers, performing alongside Dawes on stage, contribute immensely to the power of the production, as do the photographers whose work is projected on a large screen behind the performers.

In an interview on The Root, poet Kwame Dawes discusses his role and shares his experience in creating the multimedia project "Hope: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica," commissioned by the Pulitzer Center to document the human face of HIV in Jamaica, the country of Kwame's youth.

Learn more about the Emmy-winning LiveHopeLove.com

Although it's called the Black Theatre Festival, this biennial gathering of African-American artists draws creative people from all over the nation working in a variety of mediums. Kwame Dawes, the poet in residence at the University of South Carolina, will present his multimedia productions titled Wisteria and Hope during the festival. [For complete performance listings, see page 20.] Wisteria and Hope are two separate pieces performed back to back.

Tune in to North Carolina Public Radio's "The Story" to hear Kwame Dawes talk about HOPE, his poetry that will be performed at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC, on August 6 and 7.

Dr Kwame Dawes will stage LIVE! HOPE! LOVE! at the Phillip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at the University of the West Indies on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Gay pride is celebrated across the U.S. every June. Could there be similar celebrations of gay pride in Jamaica?

"Hope's Hospice," a collection of poetry by Kwame Dawes inspired by his Pulitzer Center-sponsored reporting in Jamaica, was called "sublime" in a review by The Jamaica Gleaner. The poetry, which largely handles the impact of AIDs on Jamaican society, is accompanied by photographs by Joshua Cogan. According to The Gleaner, the collection "will jolt you from your slumber and spur you to think, to act" about AIDs "without being preachy."

Cuba has the highest rate of depression and suicide in the New World. So why does Castro's vaunted health care system deny the very existence of mental illness on the island?

This week's poem by Kwame Dawes is entitled "Portmore."

Don't forget to vote LiveHopeLove.com for the People's Voice Award at the Webbys! Voting ends April 30!

Lygia Navarro, for the Pulitzer Center