Anthony Joseph

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

(born 12 November 1966) is a British/Trinidadian poet, novelist, musician and academic. In 2023, he was awarded the T. S. Eliot Prize for his book ''Sonnets for Albert''.

Biography

Joseph was born in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, where he was raised by his grandparents. He began writing as a young child and cites his main influences as calypso,

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, the spiritual

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church that his grandparents attended, and the rhythms of

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

speech. Joseph has lived in the United Kingdom since 1989. In September 2004 he was chosen by Renaissance One and Arts Council England as one of 50 Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to contemporary British literature, appearing in the "A Great Day in London" photograph and performing at the event at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. In April 2005, he served as the British Council's first poet-in-residence at California State University, Los Angeles. Joseph holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He has taught at London Metropolitan University, University of Surrey Roehampton, South Thames College, and Birkbeck College. Joseph is the author of the poetry collections ''Desafinado'' (1994), ''Teragaton'' (1997), ''Bird Head Son'' (2009) and ''Rubber Orchestras'' (2011). His debut novel, '' The African Origins of UFOs'', was published by Salt Publishing in November 2006. Described as an "afro-psychedelic-noir, a poetic work of metafiction, mythology and afro-futurism", the book was endorsed by Kamau Brathwaite, Linton Kwesi Johnson, and Lauri Ramey, who hailed it in her introduction as "a future fiction classic". Reviewing the book, Ali Alizadeh called Joseph "both a faithful heir and an agnostic rebel; a Black poet haunted by Africa's past as well as a bilingual post-modernist amused by the possibilities of the future. Contemporary literature doesn't come a lot more sophisticated and intriguing than this." Joseph received an Arts Council award to conduct a reading tour of the UK in support of the book. In 2007, the tour continued to Europe with a 10-city tour of Germany and readings in the US. Joseph also performs and records as a spoken-word vocalist. His debut album with The Spasm Band band Leggo de Lion was released in April 2007 by Kindred Spirits. His collection of poetry, ''Bird Head Son'', was published by Salt Publishing in February 2009, coinciding with the release of his album '' Bird Head Son''. The album was recorded over two days in Meudon, France, with guests Keziah Jones, Joseph Bowie, and vibraphonist David Neerman. Joseph's album ''Rubber Orchestras'' was released in August 2011. His poetry collection, also entitled ''Rubber Orchestras'', was published by Salt Publishing in November 2011. ''Time'', his first solo album, was released on 3 February 2013. It was produced by American bassist and singer Meshell Ndegeocello. He has also guested on albums by Mop Mop and Adam Pierończyk. In 2012, Joseph represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Poetry Parnassus Festival on London's South Bank Centre. He has also performed with Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra. ''Caribbean Roots'' was released in June 2016 by Strut Records and Heavenly Sweetness. In 2018 Peepal Tree Press published his novel ''Kitch: A Fictional Biography of a Calypso Icon''. ''Kitch'' was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, 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 800 Fellows, elect ...

's Encore Award, and long listed for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. In 2019, his third novel, ''The Frequency of Magic'' was published, also by Peepal Tree Press. In 2022, Joseph's collection ''Sonnets for Albert'' was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection. In 2023, he was awarded the T. S. Eliot Prize for ''Sonnets for Albert'', judged by Jean Sprackland (chair), Hannah Lowe and Roger Robinson, who described the book as "a luminous collection which celebrates humanity in all its contradictions and breathes new life into this enduring form". Joseph is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at King's College London. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

in 2023.

Awards and honours

* Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship – 2019 * Paul Hamlyn Foundation Composers Award –2020 * Arts Council of England Touring Awards – 2007, 2019 & 2020 * Arts and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Research Award – 2007 * T. S. Eliot Prize, for ''Sonnets for Albert'' – 2023 * OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature – Poetry Category – for ''Sonnets for Albert'' – 2023 *

2023

Discography

* ''Leggo de Lion'', 2007 * '' Bird Head Son'', 2009 * ''Rubber Orchestras'', 2011 * ''Live in Bremen'', 2013 * ''Time'', 2014 * '' Caribbean Roots'', 2016 * ''People of the Sun'', 2018 * ''The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives'', 2021 * ''Rowing Up River To Get Our Names Back'', 2025

Bibliography

* ''Desafinado'', Poison Engine Press, 1994, * ''Teragaton'', Poison Engine Press, 1997, * '' The African Origins of UFOs'', Salt Publishing, 2006, * '' Bird Head Son'', Salt Publishing, 2009, * ''Rubber Orchestras'', Salt Publishing, 2011, * ''Kitch: A Fictional Biography of a Calypso Icon'', Peepal Tree Press, 2018, * ''The Frequency of Magic'', Peepal Tree Press, 2019, * ''Sonnets for Albert'', Bloomsbury, 2022

References

External links

* *
Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band music videoAnthony Joseph music video for "Slinger"
*Mark Lyndersay
"The grounding of Anthony Joseph"
''Trinidad & Tobago Newsday'', 10 August 2018. Review of ''People of the Sun''.
Anthony Joseph
at David Higham. {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Anthony 1966 births Living people 21st-century British male writers Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of London Metropolitan University Afrofuturist writers Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Black British academics Black British writers British male novelists British male poets 21st-century British poets British science fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom Trinidad and Tobago male writers Trinidad and Tobago musicians Trinidad and Tobago novelists Trinidad and Tobago poets The Spatial AKA Orchestra members T. S. Eliot Prize winners