THIS WEEK’S MUSE
KWAME ALEXANDER, WRITER
“I try to write books that are mirrors and windows, books that show us and remind us who we are, and books that allow other people to fully see us as human beings.”
Kwame Alexander is an American writer, born in New York in 1968. To date, he has written 38 books—novels, picture books, and poetry—and is often categorized as a children’s writer, but that does him a disservice. He writes books that he hopes will immerse, transport, and inspire children, but he also aims to appeal to parents and perhaps together.
“I write books because I want to help young people imagine a better world. Do I write books for children? No, I write books that hopefully children are going to love and their parents are going to love.”
He grew up in a family that championed reading, his parents actively encouraging the young Kwame to immerse himself in books and poetry. Then, at age 11, his father started to make him read encyclopedias and old college dissertations. This strategy, presumably intending to educate and enlighten, backfired. Suddenly reading was a requirement, not a pleasure, as he was shifted from what he wanted to read to what he was told to read. By the time he was 12 years old, Alexander “hated books.”
His rediscovery of reading, particularly poetry, came from a stash of books he found buried away in his parent’s garage. If his peers were out experimenting with an occasional cigarette, playing guitars, or discovering cars, he rebelled by quietly becoming addicted to verse.
His discovery was deep and lasting. The beauty of poetry as an art form and its potency as an efficient supply mechanism of ideas hit him like a train in the rain. Unlike prose, which can take time meandering around a long and complex narrative, the poetry he realized delivered fast and to the point. A poem’s story, emotion, or idea was almost instant – injected straight into the brain and heart
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“Poetry is like the human soul entirely distilled into very few words, and they’re power packed. You can get a whole beginning, middle, and end in 10 lines.”
Today, Alexander writes his novels in verse. Partly for efficiency and impact but also for the beauty created by the poem itself. The rhyme and rhythm, the pace of language, the way words interact and interlock; so much harder to achieve in prose.
The economy and power of a poem explain why verse is a preferred medium, but that’s only part of the puzzle. Weaving through his books is a fearless motivation to inspire, educate, and share ideas. He wants young people to discover reading, not just because they need to as a part of their education—though that as well—but because reading is creative, enjoyable, inspiring, and rewarding. And poetry? “Poetry rocks,” he says.
Through his teaching and delivering workshops around the world, Alexander has an infectious enthusiasm for discovering the written word. And like in his books, he motivates and moves people to find their voice. “You can’t have a dream come true if you don’t have a dream. You can’t write a book if you don’t write.”
Alexander is an entrepreneur, trying to create an environment of equality. “We’re still dealing with racism on a daily basis,” he says, “and for me, I choose to write books about black people where we are normal.” His work comes from a simple human desire to reach out for an equitable world. His characters are ordinary people having everyday lives but delivered as poems; those lives are the “mirrors and windows” – heightened, powerful, emotional, and concise. Poetry is, he says, “the basic building block of all forms of writing. And I believe that with my heart and soul.”
Kwame Alexander returns to the Cultural Center in October with his workshop “The Art and Business of Writing a Memoir.” Apply by June 15, 2023.
HAPPENING
Wednesday, April 19, 6–8pm
ISLAND DINNER SERIES – PART 3
With Chef Joe Cizynski
Delicious dishes from New York City!
Member: $65, Non-member: $75