Booking and details
Get TicketsDates Tue, May 19, 2026 at 7:30pm
Venue Folger Theatre
Tickets $20
Duration 60 minutes
Please note: Children under the age of 4 are not permitted.
The Poetry season concludes with a finale reading by a poet chosen by a group of Folger Poetry supporters. This year’s reader is Poet Laureate of Jamaica (2024-2027) and winner of the prestigious Windham/Campbell Award for Poetry, Kwame Dawes. Dawes will read from the work of other poets cited as his literary influences as well as from his own work.
Previous poets invited for this finale reading include Ellen Bass, Billy Collins, Carolyn Forché, and Jane Hirshfield. The reading will be followed by a book signing in the Great Hall.
Can’t join us in person? Purchase virtual access to a live streaming of the reading.
About the poet
Kwame Dawes
Kwame Dawes is the author of numerous books of poetry and other books of fiction, criticism, and essays. His most recent collection is Sturge Town (W.W. Norton, 2024). Dawes is Professor of Literary Arts at Brown University. He teaches in the Pacific MFA Program and is the Series Editor of the African Poetry Book Series, Director of the African Poetry Book Fund, and Artistic Director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. He is a former Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Kwame Dawes is the winner of the prestigious Windham/Campbell Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. In 2022 Dawes was awarded the Order of Distinction Commander class by the Government of Jamaica. He is the Poet Laureate of Jamaica (2024-2027).