John Agard (born 21 June 1949) is a playwright, poet and children's writer from Guyana, who moved to the United Kingdom in 1977. He moved to New Road in Ironbridge, Shropshire. shortly after. He worked for the Commonwealth Institute, as well as at the BBC in London. He has won a total of five awards for his works, including the Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry in 1997 and the Cholmondeley Award in 2004. John was Poet-in-Residence at the National Maritime Museum from August to November 2008. His poetry (Half Caste) has been featured in the AQA English GCSE anthology since 2002 - meaning that many GCSE students (Aged 14 - 16) must study his work for their GCSE English qualification. This, in combination with his live acts, has led to him becoming increasingly popular with UK students.[citation needed]
Selected works
- Shoot Me With Flowers (1974) - his first published work, published in Guyana.
- Man to Pan (1982) - Won the Casa de las Américas Prize in Cuba.
- Lend Me Your Wings (1987) - Won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (shortlist).
- We Animals Would Like a Word With You (1996) - Won the bronze Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in the "6-8 years" category in 1997.
He also wrote: my move your move
- Half Caste (poem).
- From the Devil's Pulpit (1997).
- Wriggle Piggy Toes (2006) - his most recent work.
Some of his collections include:
- "Mangoes and bullets: Selected and New Poems 1972-1982" (Pluto Press 1985).
- "From the Devil's Pulpit" (Bloodaxe 1997).
- "Weblines" (Bloodaxe 2000).
- "Half-Caste" (Hodder 2004).
External links
- John Agard at the BBC
- John Agard at Contemporary Writers (includes extensive bibliography)
- [1] John Agard at the National Maritime Museum
- http://www.helium.com/items/947671-guyana-south-america-parents
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