John Agard

John Agard is one of the most popular poets writing in Britain today. He is the author of many children's books and his collection of poetry for young children, We Animals Would Like A Word With You was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. He was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) and worked for the Guyana Sunday Chronicle newspaper as sub-editor and feature writer before moving to England in 1977, where he became a touring lecturer for the Commonwealth Institute, travelling to schools throughout the UK to promote a better understanding of Caribbean culture. In 1993 he was appointed Writer in Residence at the South Bank Centre, London, and became Poet in Residence at the BBC in London, an appointment created as part of a scheme run by the Poetry Society in London. He also played a key role in the 'Windrush' season of programmes in 1998. He is a mainstay of the Poetry Live road show bringing poetry to about 75,000 teenagers every year, and has travelled extensively throughout the world performing his poetry. He has contributed to, and edited, several anthologies, and is also co-editor of A Caribbean Dozen (1994) with his partner, the poet Grace Nichols, with whom he also co-wrote No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock in 1991. His books for Frances Lincoln include The Young Inferno, a retelling of Dante's Inferno.