Anthony Anaxagorou
Anthony Anaxagorou FRSL[1] is a British-born Cypriot poet, writer, publisher and educator. His published work includes several volumes of poetry, non-fiction and a collection of short stories. His second poetry collection, After the Formalities[2] (Penned in the Margins) was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2019.[3] In 2020, he published How To...Write It[4] with Merky Books (a Penguin Books imprint curated by Stormzy).[5][6] Anaxagorou's 2022 poetry collection, Heritage Aesthetics, won the 2023 Ondaatje Prize. In 2023 Anaxagorou was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[7]
Anthony Anaxagorou | |
|---|---|
 Anaxagorou in 2010 | |
| Born | March 1983 (age 40) London, England, UK |
| Occupation | Poet, writer, educator |
| Nationality | British |
| Notable awards | Mayor of London's Poetry Slam, 2002 Groucho Maverick Award, 2015 Ondaatje Prize, 2023 |
| Website | |
| anthonyanaxagorou | |
Early life
Anthony Anaxagorou is of Cypriot origin.[8] His mother is from Nicosia and his father from Famagusta.[9] Anaxagorou grew up in North London and attended Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet.[10]
Career
In 2002, Anaxagorou won the inaugural Mayor of London's Respect Poetry Slam[11] (now known as SLAMbassadors UK, the national youth slam championship[12]). In 2003, he appeared alongside fellow poet Kae Tempest on Young Nation, presented by Richard Blackwood, where he performed a number of poems themed around social issues relating to young people.[13] After an extended break from poetry, Anaxagorou began self-publishing in 2008. In 2010, he toured the UK supporting MOBO-winning artist Akala on the DoubleThink tour.
In 2012, Anaxagorou founded Out-Spoken, a monthly poetry and live music night,[14] where he remains Artistic Director. In 2019, Out-Spoken started a long-term residency at London's Southbank Centre.[15] In 2015, he founded Out-Spoken Press, an independent publisher of poetry and critical writing that has published titles from authors including Raymond Antrobus, Sabrina Mahfouz, Fran Lock and Richard Georges.[16]
In 2015, Anaxagorou was awarded the 2015 Groucho Maverick Award[17] for his poetry and fiction.
His second poetry collection, After the Formalities (Penned in the Margins, 2019), was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2019.[3] The collection was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation[18] and was a Guardian poetry book of the year.[19] In 2019, he was made an honorary lecturer of the University of Roehampton.[20]
In 2020, he published How To... Write It with Merky Books, a practical guide combining writing advice, craft and memoir.
His poetry collection Heritage Aesthetics won the 2023 Ondaatje Prize.[21]
Literary works
- A Difficult Place To Be Human – 2012[22]
- The Blink That Killed The Eye (Jacaranda, 2014)[23]
- It Will Come To You EP - 2013[24]
- Heterogeneous: New and Selected Poems (Out-Spoken Press, 2016)[25]
- After the Formalities (Penned in the Margins, 2019)[26]
- How To... Write It (Merky Books, 2020)[27]
- Heritage Aesthetics (Granta Poetry, 2022)
References
- Stenhouse, Martha (12 July 2023). "New Fellows and Election Process Announced". Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- Anaxagorou, Anthony (2019). After the formalities. Poetry Book Society. London. ISBN 978-1-908058-65-2. OCLC 1085947373.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - "TS Eliot prize unveils shortlist of 'fearless poets'". The Guardian. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- Anaxagorou, Anthony (15 October 2020). How to... write it: work with words. London. ISBN 978-1-5291-1879-7. OCLC 1180202677.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - "#Merky Books". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Stormzy's #Merky Books to launch 'How To' series on activism, writing and other topics". Sky News. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- Creamer, Ella (12 July 2023). "Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- Anaxagorou, Anthony (1 April 2016). "Among A Race Of Others: An Overview Of Western Racial Classification And Colourism". Media Diversified. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- "Lobby for Cyprus - Our Work - Statements". Lobby for Cyprus. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- "Queen Elizabeth's School - New & Noteworthy". www.qebarnet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- "Anthony Anaxagorou – SLAMbassadors". Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "SLAMbassadors". Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "elbo.ws". Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- Noor, Poppy (12 August 2018). "On my radar: Madani Younis's cultural highlights". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Out-Spoken". www.southbankcentre.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Books". Out-Spoken. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "The Groucho Maverick Awards Nomination". Groucho Club. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Autumn Elections 2019". The Poetry Book Society. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Best poetry of 2019". The Guardian. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- Roehampton, University of (18 February 2019). "Anthony Anaxagorou | In Conversation". University of Roehampton Blog. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- Creamer, Ella (10 May 2023). "Anthony Anaxagorou wins Ondaatje prize for collection of postcolonial poetry". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- "Anthony Anaxagorou — A Difficult Place To Be Human". anthonyanaxagorou.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- "The Blink That Killed The Eye". Jacaranda Books. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Anthony Anaxagorou — It Will Come To You EP". anthonyanaxagorou.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- Heterogeneous. ASIN 0993103839.
- Mennis, Katie (2019), "Review | After the Formalities by Anthony Anaxagorou", The London Magazine.
- "How to Write It".