Agard, John

(1949- )

   Playwright, poet, short story and children's writer born in Guyana, he worked as sub-editor and feature writer for the Guyana Sunday Chronicle newspaper. He came to England in 1977, where he became a lecturer for the Commonwealth Institute, traveling to schools throughout the U.K. 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. He won the Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry in 1997 and has traveled extensively throughout the world performing his poetry. He co-edited "A Caribbean Dozen" (1994) with his partner, Grace Nichols (see entry for other joint collections). He has won several literary awards. Some of his other poetry publications: Man to Pan, 1982 (winner of the Casa de las Américas Prize). Limbo Dancer in Dark Glasses, 1983. Mangoes and Bullets: Selected and New Poems 1972-84, 1985. Weblines, 2000. Half-caste and Other Poems, 2005. Some of his poems: "Ask Mummy Ask Daddy," "By All Means Bless," "For Bob Marley," "Listen Mr. Oxford Don," "New Shoes," "Wind and River Romance."

   Sources: British Council Arts (http://www.contempo rarywriters.com). Caribbean Poetry Now. Stewart Brown, ed. Edward Arnold, 1992. Other: British and Irish Poetry since 1970. Richard Caddel and Peter Quartermain, eds. Wesleyan University Press, 1999. Poetry by John Agard (http://www.humboldt.edu/Agard, Johnme2/engl240b/student_proj ects/agard/poetry.htm). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry. Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbia grangers.org). The Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry. Stewart Brown and Ian McDonald, eds. Heinemann, 1992. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Oxford Treasury of Children's Poems. Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, eds. Oxford University Press, 1988. Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology of Reggae Poetry. Kwame Dawes, ed. Goose Lane Editions, 1998.