Kwame Dawes Wins the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant

by | Aug 16, 2021 | Gist Corner

Kwame Dawes’s African Poetry Digital Portal has received the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant. The grant comes with a three-year grant of $750,000 for the next phase of the project: “expanding research and scholarship relating to African poetry and joining with other institutions to create a digital collections hub that will give access to materials held by institutions worldwide.”

The African Poetry Digital Portal was launched in 2017 with the aim of documenting the work of African poets and providing digital access to its wide-ranging scope of research materials and creative work. The African Poetry Digital Portal is in collaboration with the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska. The project is in charge of the African Poetry Book Fund.

Kwame and Lorna Dawes worked closely with personnel from the University of Nebraska Foundation, with assistance from the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities and the Office of Research and Economic Development in preparing the final grant application.

In a statement made to the press, Kwame Dawes, George Holmes Professor of English, Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner and editor of the African Poetry Book series published by University of Nebraska Press said:

“Poets have always understood themselves to be part of an ancient tradition that dates back into antiquity. Unfortunately, racism and other forms of power dynamics have limited our understanding of the threads of this tradition in parts of the world that were exploited. The fact is that rich and sophisticated poetic practices and traditions have always existed in African societies and continue to thrive in Africa. Our work, we hope, will bring this to light and in so doing, will give poets a chance to engage this tradition as part of their understanding of poetic form and practice. It has been a tremendous honor to form partnerships with individuals from such venerable institutions from around the world.”

Kwame Dawes’s wife Lorna Dawes said that the grant will help support six doctoral research graduate assistantships, three digital humanities research grants, and 78 research stipends to students and researchers. Also, the grant will fund four persons from Nebraska’s Center for Digital Research in the humanities to develop the new portal prototype. It will also support 11 undergraduate research stipends at collaborating institutions.

Lorna Dawes will oversee the work of the collections team in planning the collections hub, with archivist Mary Ellen Ducey, metadata librarian Margaret Mering and copyright specialist Paul Royster serving as advisers. Mark Button, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Nebraska, and Claire Stewart, Dean of libraries, said the Mellon Foundation’s generous support will lead to more scholarship and information about African literature.

Chancellor at the University of Nebraska, Ronnie Green, said: Through poetry, humankind has a special power to express our deepest thoughts and strongest feelings. I am thrilled that the Mellon Foundation shares our recognition of understanding the importance of African history through poetry.”

The African Poetry Digital Portal has partnered with the following Team members from partner institutions:

  • University of Cape Town in South Africa — Nikki Crowster, director of information systems and resources; Michal Singer, principal archivist, primary collections, special collections; Mandy Noble, principal librarian, special collections, Jagger Library.
  • University of Lomé in Togo — Hongma Enyonam (Célestine) Mérat, assistant director, UL Library and Archives; Patron KoKou Henkou, director, UL Library.
  • University of Ghana — Samuel Owusu-Ansah, head of digitization and institutional repository, Balme Library.
  • University of Oxford — Lucy McCann, senior archivist, Bodleian Libraries.
  • University of Cambridge — Jenni Skinner, library manager, African Studies Library, Center of African Studies; Elleke Boehmer, professor of world literature; director, Oxford Center for Life Writing, Department of English.
  • Northwestern University — Esmeralda M. Kale, George and Mary LeCron Foster Curator, Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies.
  • University of Michigan, Loyd Gitari Mbabu, librarian, African Studies; collection coordinator, International Studies.
  • Library of Congress, Lanisa S. Kitchiner, chief, African and Middle Eastern Division.