John Agard
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John Agard
FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...
(born 21 June 1949 in
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was ...
) is an
Afro-Guyanese Afro-Guyanese are generally descended from the enslaved people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide array of backgrounds and enduring condition ...
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...
and children's writer, now living in
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. In 2012, he was selected for the
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...
."Poet John Agard is selected for Queen's poetry medal"
BBC News, 20 December 2012. He was awarded BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2021.


Biography

Agard grew up in Georgetown, British Guiana (now
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
). He loved to listen to
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
commentary on the radio and began making up his own, which led to a love of language. He went on to study English, French and Latin at
A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
, writing his first published poetry when he was in sixth-form, and left school in 1967. He taught the languages he had studied and worked in a local library. He was also a sub-editor and feature writer for the '' Guyana Sunday Chronicle'', publishing two books while he was still in Guyana.John Agard profile
at Jubilee Books. His father (Ted) settled in London and Agard moved to Britain with his partner
Grace Nichols Grace Nichols FRSL (born 1950) is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain in 1977, before which she worked as a teacher and journalist in Guyana. Her first collection, ''I is a Long-Memoried Woman'' (1983), won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. In De ...
in 1977, settling in
Ironbridge Ironbridge is a large village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. Located on the bank of the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, it lies in the civil parish of The Gorge. Ironbridge developed beside, a ...
,
Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
. He worked for the
Commonwealth Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...
and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in London. His awards included the 1997 Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry, the
Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has be ...
in 2004 and the
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...
in 2012. In November 2021 he became the first poet to be awarded BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award. Agard was poet-in-residence at the
National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...
in 2008. His poems " Half Caste" and "Checking Out Me History" have been featured in the
AQA AQA, formerly the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds examinations in various subjects at GCSE, AS and A Level and offers vocational q ...
English
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
anthology since 2002, meaning that many students (aged 13–16) have studied his work for their GCSE English qualifications. Archival literary records consisting of "letters and proofs relating to the published poetry works of John Agard" are held at
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...
Special Collections, in the
Bloodaxe Books Bloodaxe Books is a British publishing house specializing in poetry. History Bloodaxe Books was founded in 1978 in Newcastle upon Tyne by Neil Astley, who is still editor and managing director. Bloodaxe moved its editorial office to Northumbe ...
Archive. Agard lives in
Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...
,
East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...
, with his partner, the Guyanese poet Grace Nichols.


Bibliography

*''Listen Mr Oxford Don'', 1967 *''Shoot Me With Flowers''. Georgetown, Guyana, 1974 *''Letters for Lettie, and Other Stories''. Bodley Head, 1978 *''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, 1982 *''Limbo Dancer in Dark Glasses''. Greenheart, 1983 *''Livingroom''. Black Ink, 1983 *''Mangoes and Bullets: Selected and New Poems 1972–84''. Pluto Press, 1985 *''Say It Again, Granny!''. Bodley Head, 1986 *''Lend Me Your Wings''. Hodder & Stoughton, 1998 *''Go Noah Go!''. Hodder & Stoughton, 1990 *''Laughter is an Egg''. Viking, 1990 *''The Calypso Alphabet''. Collins, 1990 *''No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock'' (with
Grace Nichols Grace Nichols FRSL (born 1950) is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain in 1977, before which she worked as a teacher and journalist in Guyana. Her first collection, ''I is a Long-Memoried Woman'' (1983), won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. In De ...
). Viking, 1991 *''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 *''Grandfather'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 *''Get Back, Pimple!''. Viking, 1996 *''We Animals Would Like a Word With You''. Bodley Head, 1996 *''From the Devil's Pulpit''. Bloodaxe, 1997 *''Brer Rabbit: The Great Tug-o-war''. Bodley Head, 1998 *''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, 2002 *''Number Parade: Number Poems from 0–100'' (with
Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay, (born 9 November 1961), is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Guardian Fictio ...
, Grace Nichols, Nick Toczek and
Mike Rosen Michael Rosen (born December 5, 1944)''The Mike Rosen Show'', 850 KOA, December 22, 2008 (10 a.m. hour) is an American radio personality and political commentator. He was the host of ''The Mike Rosen Show'' on talk radio station 850 KOA in Denve ...
). LDA, 2002 *''Hello H2O''. 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 *''Checking Out Me History'', 2007 *''The Young Inferno'' (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2008 *''Tiger Dead! Tiger Dead!: Stories from the Caribbean'' (with Grace Nichols, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). Collins Educational, 2008 *''Alternative Anthem: Selected Poems'' (with DVD). Bloodaxe, 2009. *''Clever Backbone''.Bloodaxe, 2009 *''The Young Inferno'' (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2009 *''Goldilocks on CCTV'' (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2011 *''Travel Light Travel Dark''. Bloodaxe, 2013.


As editor

*''Life Doesn't Frighten Me at All''. Heinemann, 1989 *''A Caribbean Dozen'' (co-edited with Grace Nichols). Walker Books, 1994 *''Poems in My Earphone''. Longman, 1995 *''Why is the Sky?''. Faber and Faber, 1996 *''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''. Orchard, 2000 *''Under the Moon and Over the Sea'' (co-editor with Grace Nichols). Walker Books, 2002


Awards

*
Casa de las Américas Prize The Casa de las Américas Prize (''Premio Literario Casa de las Américas'') is a literary award given by the Cuban Casa de las Américas. Established in 1959, it is one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes. The award ...
(Cuba) for ''Man to Pan'' *1987:
Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and ...
(shortlist) for ''Lend Me Your Wings'' *1995:
Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and ...
(Bronze Award) (6–8 years category) for ''We Animals Would Like a Word With You'' *1997: Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry *2004:
Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has be ...
*2007:
British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by '' The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Nationa ...
Decibel Writer of the Year (shortlist) for ''We Brits'' *2007: Elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...
*2009: Centre for Literacy in Primary Education poetry award for ''The Young Inferno''. *2012:
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...
"Poet John Agard is selected for Queen's poetry medal"
BBC News (20 December 2012). Retrieved 15 February 2013. *2021: BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award


References


External links


''Shoot Me with Flowers''
The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the List of largest libraries, largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal de ...
, 23 November 2021 – Asgard's first book of poems acquired for the British Library's collection
"John Agard: Making Waves at the BBC"
The Poetry Society. * (includes extensive bibliography)

* An example of John Agard reading his poetry – . {{DEFAULTSORT:Agard, John 1949 births Living people Black British writers Afro-Guyanese people British children's writers British dramatists and playwrights Guyanese dramatists and playwrights Guyanese poets Postcolonial literature Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 20th-century British poets 21st-century British poets 21st-century British male writers People from Georgetown, Guyana British male poets British male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Guyanese writers 21st-century Guyanese writers Guyanese emigrants to England