Alternative Anthem
Alternative Anthem
From Neil Astley on Vimeo
John Agard: Playwright, poet, short-story and children's writer John Agard was born on 21 June 1949 in British Guiana (now Guyana). He worked for the Guyana Sunday Chronicle newspaper as sub-editor and feature writer before moving to England in 1977, where he became a touring lecturer for the Commonwealth Institute, travelling to schools throughout the UK to promote a better understanding of Caribbean culture. In 1993 he was appointed Writer in Residence at the South Bank Centre, London, and became Poet in Residence at the BBC in London, an appointment created as part of a scheme run by the Poetry Society in London. He also played a key role in the 'Windrush' season of programmes in 1998. He won the Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry in 1997 and has travelled extensively throughout the world performing his poetry.
His published poetry includes Man to Pan (1982), winner of the Casa de las Américas Prize, Limbo Dancer in Dark Glasses (1983), Mangoes and Bullets: Selected and New Poems 1972-84 (1985) and Weblines (2000). He is also the author of many children's books, including Lend Me Your Wings (1987), which was shortlisted for the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. He has contributed to, and edited, several anthologies, including The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse (1986), and is also co-editor of A Caribbean Dozen (1994) with his partner, the poet Grace Nichols, with whom he also co-wrote No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock in 1991. Their latest collaboration is Tiger Dead! Tiger Dead! Stories from the Caribbean (2008).
John Agard lives in south-east England. His poetry collection We Brits (2006), was shortlisted for the 2007 British Book Awards Decibel Writer of the Year award. His latest poetry collection is Clever Backbone (2009).
Bibliography:
Shoot Me With Flowers Published in Georgetown, Guyana, 1974; Letters for Lettie, and Other Stories Bodley Head, 1979; Dig Away Two-Hole Tim Bodley Head, 1981; Man to Pan Casa de las Américas (Cuba), 1982; I Din Do Nuttin, and Other Poems Bodley Head, 1983; Limbo Dancer in Dark Glasses Greenheart, 1983; Livingroom Black Ink, 1983; Caribbean Poetry Now (contributor) Hodder & Stoughton, 1984; Mangoes and Bullets: Selected and New Poems 1972-84 Pluto Press, 1985; Say It Again, Granny! Bodley Head, 1986; The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse (contributor) Penguin, 1986; Lend Me Your Wings Hodder & Stoughton, 1987; Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All (editor) Heinemann, 1989; Go Noah Go! Hodder & Stoughton, 1990; Laughter is an Egg Viking, 1990; The Calypso Alphabet Collins, 1990; Border Country: Poems in Progress (contributor) Wood Wind Publications, 1991; No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock (with Grace Nichols) Viking, 1991; Grandchildren of Albion (contributor) New Departures, 1992; Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry (contributor) Heinemann, 1992; The Emperor's Dan-dan Hodder & Stoughton, 1992; A Stone's Throw from Embankment: The South Bank Collection Royal Festival Hall, 1993; The Great Snakeskin Ginn, 1993; A Caribbean Dozen (co-edited with Grace Nichols) Walker Books, 1994; Granfather's Old Bruk-a-Down Car Bodley Head, 1994; Oriki and the Monster Who Hated Balloons Longman, 1994; The Monster Who Loved Cameras Longman, 1994; The Monster Who Loved Telephones Longman, 1994; The Monster Who Loved Toothbrushes Longman, 1994; Eat a Poem, Wear a Poem Heinemann Young Books, 1995; Poems in My Earphone (editor) Longman, 1995; Another Day on Your Foot and I Would Have Died (contributor) Macmillan Children's Books, 1996; Get Back, Pimple! Viking, 1996; We Animals Would Like a Word With You Bodley Head, 1996; Why is the Sky? (editor) Faber and Faber, 1996; From the Devil's Pulpit Bloodaxe, 1997; Brer Rabbit: The Great Tug-o-war Bodley Head, 1998; A Child's Year of Stories and Poems (with Michael Rosen and Robert Frost) Viking Children's Books, 2000; Hello New: New Poems for a New Century (editor) Orchard, 2000; Points of View with Professor Peekabo Bodley Head, 2000; Weblines Bloodaxe, 2000; Come Back to Me My Boomerang (with Lydia Monks) Orchard, 2001; Einstein, The Girl Who Hated Maths Hodder Children's Books, 2002K; Number Parade: Number Poems from 0-100 (with Jackie Kay, Grace Nichols, Nick Toczek and Mike Rosen) LDA, 2002; Under the Moon and Over the Sea (co-editor with Grace Nichols) Walker Books, 2002; Einstein the Girl That Hated Maths Hodder Children's Books, 2003; Hello H20 Hodder Children's Books, 2003; From Mouth to Mouth (with Grace Nichols; illustrated by Annabel Wright) Walker, 2004; Baby Poems Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2005; Half-Caste Hodder & Stoughton, 2005; Butter-Finger (with Bob Cattell, illustrated by Pam Smy) Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2006; We Brits Bloodaxe, 2006; Wriggle Piggy Toes (with Jenny Bent) Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2006; Shine On, Butter-Finger (with Bob Cattell, illustrated by Pam Smy) Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2007; The Young Inferno (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura) Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2008; Tiger Dead! Tiger Dead!: Stories from the Caribbean (with Grace Nicholls, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura) Collins Educational, 2008; Clever Backbone Bloodaxe, 2009.
