11 Facts About Raymond Antrobus

Raymond Antrobus is a British poet, educator and writer who has been performing poetry since 2007.

Raymond Antrobus was born in Hackney, East London, to an English mother and a Jamaican father who in the 1960s had emigrated to England to work.

Raymond Antrobus put a poem called The Song of the Banana Man by Evan Jones on my bedroom wall and my mum put William Blake's London on my wall.

Raymond Antrobus became a teacher and was one of the first recipients of an MA degree in Spoken Word education from Goldsmiths, University of London, and has had fellowships from Royal Society of Literature, Cave Canem, The Complete Works 3 and Jerwood Compton.

From 2010 to 2018, Raymond Antrobus was a founding member of Chill Pill at The Albany in Deptford as well as of the Keats House Poets Forum, and co-curated shows featuring such people as Kae Tempest, Sabrina Mahfouz, Inua Ellams, Kayo Chingyoni, Warsan Shire, Anthony Anaxagorou and Hannah Lowe.

Raymond Antrobus has read and performed at major UK festivals and internationally, including in South Africa, Kenya, North America, Sweden, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, and has held multiple residencies in schools, as well as at Pupil Referral Units.

Raymond Antrobus's work has been widely published in many literary magazines, journals and other outlets, among them BBC 2, BBC Radio 4, Poetry Review, New Statesman, Poetry, The Deaf Poets Society, The Big Issue, The Jamaica Gleaner and The Guardian.

Raymond Antrobus is as searching a poet as you're likely to find writing today.

Also in May 2019, Raymond Antrobus was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Poetry.

Raymond Antrobus was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to literature.

Raymond Antrobus was on the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize judging panel, alongside Ruth Borthwick and Amber Massie-Blomfield, when the award was won by Michael Rosen.