In a ceremony at New York University on February 20, 2018, Barbadian poet Kamau Brathwaite will receive the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry from PEN America. The award is described as follows:
The PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry is given in even-numbered years to a poet whose distinguished and growing body of work represents a notable and accomplished presence in American literature. The poet honored by the award is one whom expanded the scope of American poetry, and who continues to mature with each successive volume of poetry. They receive a stipend of $5,000 after being chosen by a panel of three to five poets or writers whose tastes and knowledge of contemporary American poetry are wide-ranging and thorough.
The award panel comprised Ed Roberson, Natalie Scenters-Zapico, and Ocean Vuong. The citation reads: “For his omnivorously synthetic, insistently local, sinuously syncopated, and consistently exciting work, including Elegguas, Born to Slow Horses, and Ancestors.”
More details here.
