Alternative Anthem by John Agard

Description

Winner of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, 2012

John Agard has been broadening the canvas of British poetry for the past 35 years with his mischievous, satirical fables which overturn all our expectations.Alternative Anthemis a live album of poems from books published over three decades, with a DVD of filmed highlights from recent performances. It includes poetry from:

We Brits:the Guyanese-born word magician gives an outsider-insider view of British life in poems which both challenge and cherish our peculiar culture and hallowed institutions.

Weblines:three powerful Caribbean myths of transformation: the steeldrum, the limbo dancer, and Anansi, the spider trickster god.

From the Devils Pulpit:a Devils eye view of the world, sweeping from Genesis across time.

And other books includingMangoes and BulletsandLovelines for a Goat-Born Ladyfeaturing some of Agards best-known poems Listen Mr Oxford Don, Palm Tree King, Half-Caste, An English Girl Eats Her First Mango.

The DVD withAlternative Anthemhas films by Pamela Robertson-Pearce, the filmmaker of Bloodaxe’s DVD-bookIn Person: 30 Poets, of two recent live performances by John Agard. These include many of his best-known poems.

John Agard published a new collection,Clever Backbone(2009), at the same time asAlternative Anthem. He has since published a later collection,Travel Light Travel Dark(2013).