Like many Chesapeake kids in the late 1970s and early '80s, Kwame Alexander was more interested in playing the newest video games than reading great literature or following world events. Unlike other kids, he was the son of a renowned local historian, Dr. E. Curtis Alexander and Barbara Alexander.

"I grew up in this household where it was all about instruction, how to become a better person and how to make the world better," Kwame recalls. "For a kid, who cares? I just wanted to play Atari video games and play with my friends."

Kwame's attitude changed when he read Mohammed Ali's biography and discovered that books could be "cool" and exciting. From then on, he says "I immersed in this literature that was page-turning, but it was teaching me. Because of that, coupled with my parents, I was destined for a life of trying to inform and instruct through inspiration."

After graduating from Great Bridge High School, Kwame attended Virginia Tech, where he began premedical studies. But when he took a writing class with award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni, his passion for words reignited, changing the trajectory of his life. Rather than pursuing a medical career, Kwame became the internationally beloved best-selling author of 36 books.

"I would not be the writer I am without my literary mother, Nikki Giovanni," Kwame said as the guest speaker at Virginia Tech's 2021 spring commencement. "Virginia Tech gave me the opportunity to sit at the feet of one of the greatest writers to walk the planet, which I did for three consecutive years. It's unheard of to have that opportunity."

Kwame's best-selling books include "Swing," "Becoming Muhammad Ali," "Rebound," the Newbery Honor-winning picture book "The Undefeated," and the Newbery Medal-winning novel "The Crossover." As a poet, Kwame is the recipient of The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. Other honors include The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. A regular contributor to NPR's "Morning Edition," he also wrote and, with NBA star LeBron James, executive produced the Disney+ TV series "The Crossover," based on his best-selling novel.

Having inherited his parents' commitment to making the world better, Kwame led a delegation of 20 writers and activists to Ghana, where they delivered books, built a library, and provided literacy professional development to 300 teachers as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded in 2012. Kwame regularly speaks and presents workshops at conferences across the United States. He has also traveled the world, planting the love of literature in such places as Brazil, Italy, France, and Turkey.

"I love words," Kwame says. "That's what I do. That's my avocation and my vocation; it's my hobby; it's my love; it's my life-long passion.

Kwame believes, heart and soul, that poetry is the basic building block of all writing and has the power to change the world. He uses it to inspire and empower young people through his Book-in-a-Day literacy program, which has created more than 3,000 student authors at 69 schools across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean.  

Kwame's ability to tap into his deeply personal sense of joy and use it to connect with others has made him an international favorite with audiences of all ages. Last April, he returned to his hometown to speak at The Chesapeake Forum. "We were so pleased to have Kwame Alexander return to his Chesapeake roots," Chesapeake Forum President Becky Adams says. "He is an outstanding example of how all of our students who choose to work hard and develop their talents can change the world."

Kwame Alexander's love of writing is infectious. He speaks with such joyous enthusiasm that even non-fans of poetry are bound to smile when listening to him. "Poetry is like the entire human soul distilled into very few words," he explains with a smile, "and they're power-packed. You can get a middle, beginning, and end in ten lines. We can make the readers feel something pretty powerful in just those few words."

"There are many different ways to tell a story, and I want to explore all of them," Kwame declares. "Ultimately, my mission is to change the world one word at a time.