Rest in Peace, Kamau Brathwaite

Barbados Today reports that legendary poet and historian Kamau Brathwaite has died at the age of 89. "He is credited with extensive writing and thought in developing the concept of Creole identity, a predominantly Afrocentric mindset," they write. In a separate article, the paper has printed the full text of a statement on Brathwaite's death, given by Prime Minister Mia Mottley. From that:

Kamau Brathwaite was easily one of the titans of post-colonial literature and the Arts.

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. 

One of the highlights of my tenure as Minister of Culture was Barbados’ excellent presentation at CARIFESTA in Trinidad and Tobago, featuring Kamau’s seminal work “Barabajan”.  

But his reach and influence were not limited to his beloved Barbados and the Caribbean. His tenure as an educator at institutions from Ghana to America allowed students of every ethnicity and background to experience his wizardry with words.

Ultimately however, Kamau’s legacy and timeless gift to us all is his powerfully poignant body of work...

Read on at Barbados Today. And PennSound has written up the recordings you may expect from their archive:

Edited by Jacob Edmond, PennSound's Kamau Brathwaite author page is home to a modest collection of recordings spanning four decades, starting with readings from Islands recorded in 1973 and an undated recording of Masks. Jumping forward to the 80s, there's a segmented reading at Philadelphia's Robin's Books on November 9, 1982, and a pair of recordings from the International Poetry Forum in Pittsburgh in February 1987. From the 90s, we have a recording of the poem "Angel/Engine" taken from the 1997 XCP: Cross-Cultural Poetics Conference at the University of Minnesota (via Ken Sherwood), along with Chris Funkhouser's recording of a December 2000 reading at New York University that's been segmented into individual tracks. Brathwaite made two noteworthy appearances on Leonard Schwartz's Cross Cultural Poetics radio program in 2004 and 2005, and our final recording is a forty-five minute Segue Series Reading at the Bowery Poetry Club that's also been broken up into individual MP3s.

Our hearts go out to Brathwaite's readers, family, and friends. May he rest in peace.