Anthony Joseph
Anthony Joseph is a Trinidad-born avant garde poet, novelist, Spoken word performer and musician.
Joseph was born in Trinidad in 1966 and has lived in the United Kingdom since 1989. He is the author of two poetry collections (Desafinado in 1994 and Teragaton in 1997) and two spoken-word CDs (Liquid Textology and Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band), which combined poetry and Afro-Caribbean free jazz. He cites his main influences as Jazz, Calypso, the Spiritual Baptist rhythms of his childhood, Surrealism and language poetry.
In September 2004, he was selected by the Arts Council England as one of 50 writers for the historic photo "A Great Day." His inclusion was in recognition of his contribution to experimental and literary writing and performance. He is one of the UK's few published black avant garde poets.
Joseph is a touring writer with the British Council and has performed and taught internationally. He was a featured artist on Mannafest's "Mango Lick" UK tours (1998-2001) and on Renaissance One's 2002 "Modern Love", a spoken word event exploring love and modern relationships, which toured the UK as well as Spain, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
In April 2005, Joseph served as the British Council's first poet-in-residence at California State University, Los Angeles. His one-month residency included guest performances, master classes in creative writing and guest lectures on "Music Composition" and "Sociology, Race, Class and Gender." Joseph also read at the University of California, Los Angeles's Kinross Hall during his visit. In November 2005, he performed at the Chicago Humanities Festival.
As a tutor/lecturer, Joseph has taught creative writing at University of Surrey Roehampton, and at University of North London, where he taught science fiction writing. He currently lectures in creative writing at South Thames College in London and facilitates workshops for schools and community groups.
In October 2006, Joseph's first novel, The African Origins of UFOs, was published by Salt Publishing. It has been described as an "afro-psychedelic-noir", combining metafiction, mythology, Afro-futurism, and science fiction.
Joseph is well known for his performances,often accompanied by The Spasm Band. His debut album with the band 'Leggo de Lion' is released April 2007 by Kindred Spirits, Amsterdam.