Short Description

The Dedicadas is a collection of poems, each having its own mood, yet all in harmony through a shared connection: poems dedicated to the forces and beings that inspired them.

Note: The Dedicadas was shortlisted for the GAW Literary Awards and was a finalist for North Street Book Prize.

Editorial Review

"There is a dialogue between who we are, who we were, and who we will become. Who we ought to be, who we want to become along with longing to be heard and understood. Addo’s book lovingly gives space to each of these pursuits and challenges us all along." ―Shannon Calloway | CMC Book Club | Civic Media Center

"Having read the collection, I have been changed. That is what poetry should do..." ―Ed Bedford | Coffee Time Reviews

"Addo's collection is another necessary read as we try to work through America's reckoning with racial discrimination and systemic injustice."―Carrie Honaker (writer)

Many of our moments arrive as gifts wrapped by the creative forces of the world and by the hands of other beings. Reinfred Dziedzorm Addo finds that some of his poetry flourishes in this wrapped-gift realm. He affectionately calls such writings 'dedicadas', things written in dedication or in recognition of another. Serving as Addo's debut publication, The Dedicadas is a chapbook collection of special poems that are dedicated to the forces and beings that inspired them. The offerings here include a euphoric affirmation of the spirit's (re)awakening, a lonely lament about captivity, a celebratory contemplation on letters and words (with a possibly misleading title), and a selection of other dedicadas with their own moods.

Note: The Dedicadas was shortlisted for the GAW Literary Awards.

Reinfred Dziedzorm Addo is a Ghanaian-American writer/speech-language pathologist. He is the author of The Dedicadas: A Chapbook. His work, including his health humanities creative writing, has been published in various publications and by various organizations such as Tampered Press and the (United States) National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders. He currently lives in Gainesville, Florida.