Winner of the prize for the best first collection in the Forward Poetry Prize of 1994, Progeny of Air explores a childhood and youth spent in 1970's Jamaica. The collection links inner personal experience and social and historical perspectives to mutually enriching effect. In a review for Poetry Review, Linda France wrote:

'Progeny of Air takes its title from a single poem describing a fishing trip, referring to the life cycle of the salmon, both actual and hypothetical. This also neatly reflects the themes and concerns of the collection: movement and the impulse of natural energy; the need to go back and revisit meaningful times and places in one's life; a way of living an authentic life, the possibility of growth and self-awareness. The leap and dash of the salmon is also caught in the poetry's musical rhythms and striking language.

I am grateful to Kwame Dawes for writing this book and bringing some heat to a grey and chilly autumn. Peepal Tree are bringing out two further books, I look forward to seeing what else this man can do..