I've written a few books of poetry. it all began ridiculously early in 1988. I was 21 years old and a small radical press in london published Tender Fingers In A Clenched Fist. The press was run by Jessica and Eric Huntley who are pioneers of Black literature in Britain. The publishers was Bogle L'ouverture. The same publishers also released Linton kwesi johnson and Walter Rodenys "The Underdevelopment of Africa.
A
few years later I went to Bloodaxe Books
who produced in Rebel
Without Applause in 1992 - picture on right.Rebel sold out. It was an interesting time in publishing. Many of the small black presses were disappearing and Bloodaxe was happily soaking up the cuts. When I saw Linton Kwesi Johnson Benjamin Zephania bunched together in a bloodaxe catalogue under the title "punk poets" the writing was on the wall and I left.
I went to Jamie Byng of a small and vibrant Edinburgh based publishing house called Canongate books and its imprint Payback Press. In 2000 Jamie immediately re-released Rebel - picture on left - which sold out. The last reprint was in 2006. You can get this book easily by simply clicking on the picture.
At around the same time Payback published my next collection of poems Morning Breaks In The Elevator. I then went published Morning Breaks In The Elevator. Canongate, then a small press based in scotland won the Booker prize in 2002. More exciting for me was that Payback released the new book Now and Then poetry by Gil Scot Heron to whom I am indebted for the musical and poetry of inspiration that he has given me throughout my life.
In 2000 I edited a book called The Fire People, a collection of contemporary Black British Poets. It seemed to me that there was no longer the same opportunities for Black Poets to be published and yet there were so many reading their poetry around Britain and the world. There were new black poets influenced by Hip Hop as much as Walcott. It needed a spirited book and publisher to do them justice.
In 2002 Bloomsbury whose famous books include
The Harry Potter Series, approached me to write a children's book of poetry. It was the most difficult and the most rewarding writing project I have ever taken on board. The result is The Emperors Watchmaker. I took allot of inspiration from a book by the Polish Foreign Correspondent Rudyard Kapuscinski and his book Downfall of An Autocrat. Ofcourse the poems are playful and enjoyable. Only if you have read Downfall can you see were I found nuggets of inspiration.
In Autumn 2008, arrives Listener published by Canongate Books. Books are like flags in the mountainside of an artists journey. They display the views at each point in his journey. Listener is a book of key commissions from The City of London Commission Gilt of Cain to The World Service Commission Listener. Poets have been delivering the news long long before CNN and shall continue long after CNN has gone.
Listener begins with the words Let There Be Peace and ends on an extrodinary article on the year 1968 and in particular its summer of Love, often hailed as a golden era of pop culture in British History. There are laughs too.
In March 08 Oberon Books published my play Something Dark in Hidden Gems, edited by Deidre Osborne. It is the first play I have had published but I can't help feeling that the play is undeveloped for the page, primarily because I was the actor in this one man play and as actor adn writer I needed less clarity on the page than if I were not the actor. Hope this makes sense. Anyway there are plays by other writers whom I respect highly. It's a good and gentle introduction to the world of published plays.
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