John Agard

John Agard

John Agard

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BIOGRAPHY

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). A further Selected Poems, Alternative Anthem, was also published in 2009.

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Genres (in alphabetical order)

CHILDREN, DRAMA, POETRY, SHORT STORIES

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,