VCU news

By Malorie Burkett

RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia Commonwealth University's College of Humanities and Sciences will present the 2004 Humanities and Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Award to Kwadwo Agymah Kamau, a 1992 graduate of VCU's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing and an award-winning contemporary fiction writer.

The award, which recognizes a graduate who is distinguished in his or her chosen field, will be presented April 14 during the College's annual awards ceremony. Kamau was nominated by the English Department and chosen by the College awards selection committee based on the strength of his two well-received novels, "Flickering Shadows," and "Pictures of a Dying Man," his recent Whiting Writer's Award and his effective advocacy for the VCU program as a member of the faculty at the University of Oklahoma.

"When one writes one does so in solitude, not knowing how one's work will be received; therefore, awards such as this serve to validate the career course I have chosen and encourage me to continue writing the way I want to, saying the things I want to say the way I want to say them," said Kamau.

Since graduating from VCU, Kamau has remained involved with the department and has shared his talents with other emerging writers through workshops, visits and email conversations among alumni regarding writing, teaching and publishing issues. He also became involved in programs such as the Hurston-Wright Foundation, until recently co-sponsored by the VCU English department, which supports emerging minority writers.

"Agymah Kamau has not forgotten his alma mater. He has kept in touch with the VCU English faculty and his well-deserved professional recognition has always included a reference to the program that allowed him to develop as a nationally successful writer," said Marcel Cornis-Pope, chair of VCU's English Department.

Originally from Barbados, Kamau is assistant professor of English at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Ok. His first novel, "Flickering Shadows," was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award. In addition, it received the Quality Paperback Book Club's New Voices Award and was listed among the Library Journal's Top 20 novels of 1996. Honors for his second novel, "Pictures of a Dying Man," include Virginia's 1999 Literary Award for fiction, ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year award, and citation as one of the Village Voice's best 25 books of 1999. In 2003, Kamau was recognized for his work on both novels as one of 10 recipients of the Whiting Writers' Awards -- given to encourage exceptionally promising emerging talent in works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and play writing.