Lewes poet John Agard goes on a fantastic voyage

Roll Over Atlantic by John Agard offers a satirical revisiting of the voyages of Christopher Columbus on Sunday, October 9 (4pm), at All Saints Centre, Lewes.
John AgardJohn Agard
John Agard

Show director Mark Hewitt, artistic director Lewes Live Literature, said: “Whether glorified or vilified, Columbus, by his accidental discovery of the so-called New World, gave a kickstart to globalisation, bridging Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas and joining forever the fates of these separate hemispheres and eco-sytems.

“In Roll Over Atlantic, Lewes’s multi-award-winning poet reimagines the notorious expeditions of Christopher Columbus to the so-called new world, variously taking on the voices of Columbus, The Atlantic Ocean, a native shaman and The Mighty Mosquito – a mercurial show with songs that mixed the tides of calypso and cabaret with characteristic mischievous wit.

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“Written in verse and performed against a background soundscape of Atlantic murmurings and symphonic mosquito buzzing, Agard takes his audience on a fantastical, fanatical historic voyage.”

Mark added: “John Agard was winner of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012 and was a guest on Desert Island Discs in 2014. He was the first poet-in-residence at London’s South Bank and at the BBC and is well-known by teachers and students as a poet on the GCSE syllabus.”

John Agard was born and educated in Guyana and came to Britain in 1977.

His awards include the Casa de las Américas Prize (1982), Paul Hamlyn Award (1997) and a Cholmondeley Award (2004). His book, We Brits, was shortlisted for the 2007 Decibel Writer of the Year Award and he has won the Guyana Prize twice.

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In 1989 he became the first Writer in Residence at London’s South Bank Centre. He was the first poet-in-residence at the South Bank Centre in 1993, at the BBC in 1998, and at the Greenwich Maritime Museum in 2007.

His collections of poetry for children and adults, include Travel Light, Travel Dark and Alternative Anthem, The Young Inferno – a spin on Dante’s classic for young readers – and Goldilocks on CCTV, a teenage collection inspired by Fairy Tales.

Tickets from www.leweslivelit.co.uk or 0797 203 7612.

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