Kwesi Brew

Osborne Henry Kwesi Brew was a Ghanaian poet and diplomat. His collections include The Shadows of Laughter (1968), African Panorama and Other Poems (1981), Return of No Return (1995) and The Clan of the Leopard (1996).

Early life and education

He was born on 27 May 1928 in Cape Coast into a Fante family and, after his parents died, was brought up by a British education officer, K. J. Dickens. He was among the first graduates of the University College of the Gold Coast, in 1951, and was active in the college's literary life.

Poetry

After graduating he won a British Council poetry competition in Accra. His poems appeared in the journal Okyeame and in anthologies, including four in Voices of Ghana (1958). The Shadows of Laughter, his first collection, is arranged in five sections on death, nature, the supernatural and questions of the day, and weighs the worth of the individual against society; "The Executioner's Dream" looks with something like horror at some traditional rituals. Return of No Return pays tribute to Maya Angelou and to Ghanaians who helped turn his outlook from European to African. Critics have called his work "the poetry of statement and situation".

Diplomat and death

Alongside writing, he served Ghana as a diplomat. He died on 30 July 2007.