Alexander Kingdom Nik-o "Anno" Birkin (9 December 1980 – 8 November 2001) was an English poet and musician. He received critical acclaim before he and his bandmates Alberto Mangili and Lee Citron were killed in a car accident. The charity Anno's Africa was founded in his name.
Relations
He was born to
Andrew Birkin and Bee Gilbert. He had one brother Ned Birkin, three paternal half-siblings (one of whom is
David Birkin
David Tristan Birkin (born 1977) is a British artist working with photography and performance art. He is a Senior Lecturer at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. Birkin is the co-founder of Visible Justice, a resea ...
) and two maternal half-siblings (Melissa Holm and Barnaby Holm). His paternal aunt is
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She also had a prolific career ...
, and his cousins are
Kate Barry
Catherine Moore Barry (October 1752 – September 1823) was a heroine of the American Revolutionary War. She was the daughter of Charles and Mary Moore, and the eldest of ten children. She married Andrew Barry in 1767 at the age of 15 and lived on ...
,
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song " Lemo ...
and
Lou Doillon
Lou Doillon (born 4 September 1982) is a French-English singer, actress and model.
Personal life
Doillon is the daughter of French writer/director Jacques Doillon and English actress/singer Jane Birkin. She has six brothers and sisters: Kat ...
. His grandparents on his father's side were
Judy Campbell
Judy Campbell (born Judith Mary Gamble; 31 May 1916 – 6 June 2004) was an English film, television and stage actress, widely known to be Noël Coward's muse. Her daughter is the actress and singer Jane Birkin, her son the screenwriter and dir ...
and Lt Cdr David Birkin.
Childhood
Birkin named himself Anno when he was three, after his favourite book, ''Anno's Journey'' by
Mitsumasa Anno
was a Japanese illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for picture books with few or no words. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1984 for his "lasting contribution to children's literature."
Life
Ann ...
. When he was five, his parents bought an old farmhouse on the
Lleyn peninsula in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, and it was here that Birkin and his brother Ned spent most of their childhood, "living what friends describe as a Bohemian lifestyle where the house was forever full of friends".
Music

Birkin's first band, called Midstream, formed in 1994 with his school-friends Billy Scherer and JS Rafaeli, gigged in London until 1996 when it split up. Durango 95 was put together that same year, but split up in 1997. For the next two years, Birkin composed and played on his own as well as worked with Scherer.
While visiting his father on the film set of ''
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc'' in 1998, Birkin fell in love with the actress
Milla Jovovich
Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich; sr-Latn, Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; russian: Милица Богдановна Йовович; uk, Милиця Богданoвна Йовович ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovo ...
. Anno and Milla wrote and recorded a number of songs together.
During the summer of 1999, Birkin wrote and recorded a number of songs, both solo and with Scherer; the two wrote ''Ultraviolence'' together, that led to a recording offer from
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
. They turned it down and in August formed Flying Mango Attack with bassist Lee Citron and drummer
Shïan Smith-Pancorvo
Razorlight are an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in London by lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell. Along with Borrell, the current line-up of the band is composed of founding members Björn Ågren on guitar and bassist Carl Dele ...
(both formerly of
Stony Sleep) and recorded the album ''Karmageddon''. They briefly broke up after various drummers came and went, and once again Birkin and Scherer spent time recording together in Los Angeles.
In September 2000, Birkin, Scherer, and Citron met the Italian drummer Alberto Mangili and formed Kicks joy Darkness ("KjD", named after a quote from
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian anc ...
's''
On the Road''). KjD began performing in late 2000 and in December, recorded an EP ''Ark'', produced in Birkin's Welsh studio. The following spring, he travelled around
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
with his brother
David Birkin
David Tristan Birkin (born 1977) is a British artist working with photography and performance art. He is a Senior Lecturer at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. Birkin is the co-founder of Visible Justice, a resea ...
, writing poetry and songs. He returned to England in April and embarked on a series of gigs with KjD, quickly building up a keen following on the London circuit.
The band decided to record ''Method One'', their first studio album, in
Bergamo
Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes C ...
, where Mangili had a recording studio. They played their farewell gig at the Dublin Castle in London before heading to Italy at the end of August. Birkin wrote to his fiancée
Honeysuckle Weeks
Honeysuckle Susan Weeks (born 1 August 1979) is a British actress best known for her role as Samantha Stewart (later Wainwright) in the ITV wartime drama series ''Foyle's War''.
Early life
Weeks was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Robin and Susan ...
, "Everything has fallen into place around my skull thanks to this opportunity
f recording in Italy For the first time in my life I feel like I know what I'm doing, and I'm doing what I know. The fear and anxiety and excitement I'm feeling at the moment is bursting me."
Death
On 8 November 2001, after the band had spent the day rehearsing, Birkin, Citron, and Mangili were killed in an early-morning car crash on the outskirts of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
. Birkin was a month and a day short of his 21st birthday.
Legacy
Birkin had created a website for the band in August 2001. Following his death, the site has provided a forum for his friends and fans. In 2003, ''Dreams of Waking'' – a 2-CD album of songs by Birkin and KjD – was released. ''
Rock Sound
''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
'' called it an "art-rock adventure with hints of early Radiohead and Sonic Youth. … Anno's lyrics are poetic masterpieces in their own right." Later that year, a selection of Birkin's poetry – ''Who Said the Race Is Over?'' – was published and sold over 4,000 copies.
Tom Payne reviewed it in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' as "this proud, fresh Romanticism. … Yet for all their brilliance, the poems feel unfinished. It is not just that the words have been left behind as a kind of consolation to those who mourn the author; it is as though they are still going about their tasks, asking the same questions and insolently refusing to settle."
The poet
Robert Anthony Welch
Robert Anthony Welch (25 November 1947 – 3 February 2013) was an Irish author and scholar.
Biography
Robert Anthony Welch was an emeritus professor of English and former dean of the faculty at the University of Ulster. He joined the univers ...
(Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the
University of Ulster
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
, image = Ulster University coat of arms.png
, caption =
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng =
, latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae
, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
) wrote, "Anno Birkin's book is utterly devastating. This is a great creative energy, with the authority and force of Rimbaud and the same quality of total honesty. And yet there is nothing mawkish about the whole thing, because the fire of relentless self-interrogation flames continually, purifying the emotion. So what you get is not something raw, but something highly tempered, like Toledo steel. Energetic, flashing, devastating."
''
Another Magazine
''Another Magazine'', styled ''AnOther'', is an international fashion and culture bi-annual.
Founded in 2001, its Editor-in-Chief is Susannah Frankel, who joined in January 2016. Frankel had been Fashion Features Director of the magazine since ...
'' published a selection of Birkin's poetry in 2005, commenting that "perhaps it is ''
Withnail & I
''Withnail and I'' is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Gran ...
s writer and director
Bruce Robinson
Bruce Robinson (born 2 May 1946) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote and directed the cult classic '' Withnail and I'' (1987), a film with comic and tragic elements set in London in the late 1960s, which drew on h ...
who offers us the best description of the sheer assault of Birkin's talent. He writes in his introduction to the collection, 'Anno didn't need death to be brilliant. … I love his rage, and truth, and he touches me like I was still young. Anno too is a great poet, a teenage poet, and we can only be amazed by what he could do with half a yard of ink.'"
Birkin was one of the two subjects of a
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...
documentary, ''The Lost Boys'', broadcast in September 2006.
Rachel Davies of
Esben and the Witch
Esben and the Witch (Danish language: ''Esben og Troldheksen'') is a Danish fairy tale first collected by Jens Kamp.Kamp, Jens. ''Danske Folkeminder, æventyr, Folkesagn, Gaader, Rim Og Folketro''. Odense: R. Nielsen, 1877. pp. 93-102. Andrew ...
has cited Birkin's poetry as an influence on her own lyrics.
Anno's Africa
With the profits of Birkin's words and music, his parents initiated Anno's Africa, an alternative arts-based charity for
Kenyan
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
orphans and slum children, with the aim of giving them a chance to express themselves creatively. His mother Bee Gilbert ran a pilot programme in the spring of 2007, to teach art, music, dance, drama, film, and acrobatics. The ''Telegraph Magazine'' published a five-page account of the pilot in September 2007, and an exhibition of the children's art work was held in London which featured over 200 paintings and monoprints. The event was hosted by
Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous'' ( ...
and
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company ...
, and helped raise funds for the next project which was carried out in South Africa during March and April 2008. The Anno's Africa team returned to Kenya every year since then to carry out further arts workshops, which were the subject of a
CNN special feature on 11 April 2011.
Other trustees of the charity include actress
Hayley Mills
Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promisi ...
, artist Sarah Hamilton and screenwriter
Emma Frost
Emma Grace Frost is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (Jan. 1980), and was created by writer ...
. A school sponsored by Anno's Africa was depicted in the second season of the Netflix TV series ''
Sense8
''Sense8'' (a Word play, play on the word ''wiktionary:sensate, sensate'' ) is an American Science fiction on television, science fiction Drama (film and television), drama streaming television series created by The Wachowskis, Lana and Lilly ...
''.
Notes
References
*Breaking into Heaven – ''
ID Magazine
''I.D.'' (''The International Design Magazine'') was a magazine covering the art, business, and culture of design. It was published eight times a year by F+W Media.
History
''I.D.'' was founded in 1954 as ''Industrial Design''. The name was late ...
'', November 2001
*Dreams of Waking – ''
Rock Sound
''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
'', August 2003
*"For I Am Youth!" – ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', 21 February 2004
*Who Said the Race Is Over? – ''
Another Magazine
''Another Magazine'', styled ''AnOther'', is an international fashion and culture bi-annual.
Founded in 2001, its Editor-in-Chief is Susannah Frankel, who joined in January 2016. Frankel had been Fashion Features Director of the magazine since ...
'', Spring 2005
*Reaching for the Stars – ''
The Daily Telegraph Magazine'', 15 September 2007
*Charlotte Gainsbourg, ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' (Paris edition), December 2007/January 2008
*Who Said the Race Was Over? – ''Ultraviolet'' Magazine, April 2008
External links
Anno Birkin's websiteKjD's websiteAnno's Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkin, Anno
1980 births
2001 deaths
English rock musicians
English male poets
20th-century English poets
Writers from London
Musicians from London
Road incident deaths in Italy
20th-century English male writers
Anno
Anno may refer to:
People
* Anno of Saint Gall (died 954), Anti-Abbot of St. Gall
* Anno II (Archbishop of Cologne) ( 1010–1075), Archbishop of Cologne from 1056 to 1075
*Anno (surname)
*Anno Birkin (1980–2001), English musician
*Hideaki Anno ...