John Agard

Poet, playwright, performer and anthologist

A man with medium skin tone and a beard wearing dark clothes against a dark background John Agard, by Maud Sulter, 2001, NPG P949(1), © National Portrait Gallery, London

Afro-Guyanese poet, playwright, performer and anthologist. Awarded the Queens’ Gold Medal for Poetry (2012), books include We Brits and The Young Inferno.

I is palm tree king
I know palm tree history
like de palm o me hand

From ‘Palm Tree King’ in Palm Tree King (London: Pluto Press, 1993)

The sun may set on empire
but the kettle never stops.

From ‘Alternative Anthem’ in We Brits (Northumberland: Bloodaxe, 2006)