|
|
| Home | About this site | Author index | Awards and prizes | News | Events |
 |
|
|
|
||||||
|
 |
|
Anthony JosephAnthony JosephBack | Genres | Bibliography | Author statement | Contact details | Related links | Printer-friendly version
BiographyAnthony Joseph is a poet, novelist, musician and lecturer. He was born in Trinidad and has lived in the UK since 1989. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he is also completing a PhD with an interest in experimental Caribbean poetry and life writing. His written work and performance fuse his Caribbean background with an experimental aesthetic. He has been described as 'the leader of the black avant garde in Britain' and cites his main influences as surrealism, Jazz and the rhythms of Trinidadian speech and music.
He is the author of two poetry collections: Desafinado (1994); and Teragaton (1998). His spoken word CD, Liquid Textology, was published in 2005. His first novel, The African Origins of UFOs (2006), is described as an 'afro-psychedelic-noir, a poetic noir of metafiction, mythology and afro-futurism.' A UK reading tour in support of the book continued to Europe in 2007.
In 2004, he was one of 50 Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to contemporary British literature selected by the Arts Council of England for the historic photo, 'A Great Day'. In April 2005, he was the British Council's first Poet in Residence at California State University, Los Angeles.
As an academic, Anthony Joseph has delivered papers at several conferences in the UK and USA. He is well-known for his spoken word performances, often accompanied by his Jazz quartet, The Spasm Band. His debut album with the band, 'Legge de Lion' was released in 2007 and the band toured internationally in support of the album.
He is also a lecturer in Creative Writing at Birkbeck College, and at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
His new poetry collection, Bird Head Son, is due for publication in 2008.
Genres (in alphabetical order)Fiction, Poetry
BibliographyDesafinado Poison Engine Press, 1994 Teragaton Poison Engine Press, 1998 Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora (contributor) Warner Books, 2000 Modern Love (contributor) Renaissance One, 2001 Liquid Textology (CD) Poison Engine Press, 2005 The African Origins of UFOs Salt Publishing, 2006 New Writing 15 (contributor) British Council, 2007 Bird Head Son Salt Publishing, 2008 Selected Poems Salt Publishing, 2008
Author statementI have written since childhood, preoccupied with the magic that words create, and how they can leap from the page. I have been interested in the point at which poetry becomes music. My main influences were the spirit hymns of the Baptist church my grandparents attended, the Calypso and the raw surrealism of the Trinidad carnival. When I moved to London in 1989, I began to fuse Trinidadian speech patterns/rhythms with post-modern Euro-American literary theory, creating a kind of diasporic avant-garde.
Contact information
Related links
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||
|
 |
|
|||||||
|
The British Council is registered in England as a charity. Our privacy statement. Our Freedom of Information Publications Scheme. |
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
Developed and hosted by Artlogic Media Ltd London. | |
|||||||
|
|||||||||
