Puff- New play by Guyanese born John Agard

PUFF

Written by John Agard
Directed by Mark C. Hewitt
with Leann O’Kasi as Elizabeth
and Christopher Paddon as Ralegh

Puff is a charming new verse play by John Agard set in a period of Elizabethan enchantment with the wonders of the New World - in particular, tobacco - the Queen herself having been introduced to the puffing habit by suitor and adventurer, Sir Walter Ralegh.

It is perhaps fitting that the 2012 recipient of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, the Guyana-born poet John Agard, should have turned his subversive wit to this iconic period of British history, exploring the amorous chemistry between Ralegh and The Virgin Queen at the dawn of Empire.

John Agard

John Agard explores Light & Darkness in poetry and music

Listen to  Guyanese born British poet John Agard reflect on the many aspects of light and darkness in Literature. The Program Into the Dark was first broadcast on Sunday 17 March and will be available until Sat 23rd. It is 30 minutes of fascinating insights.

John uses excerpts from  literature, mythology and religious thought, as well as music by Nina Simone, Johnny Cash and Richie Havens, as he considers what it means to embrace the darkness. Into the Dark is produced by Alan Hall and is  A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Music Played

Igor Boguslavsky

• Dark is the Night (Tyomnaya Noch)

  Performer: Queensland Symphony Orchestra / Peter Breiner
  Russian Romance, Naxos, 8555331, 2
• 

  Eartha KittI Wanna Be Evil!

  Eartha in New York, Itm, ITM 1493, 2
• 

  The BeatlesBlackbird

  The Beatles [White Album], EMI Music Distribution, CDS 7464438, 11
• 

  Johnny CashMan in Black

  Man in Black: His Greatest Hits, Colombia, 65752, CD 2 / Trk 1
• 

  Nina SimoneBlack is the Colour of my True Love’s Hair

  Nina Simone Collection, EMI, 8661162, 10
• 

  Lady GagaMarry the Night

  Born this Way, Interscope, 2771838, 1
• 

  Richie HavensHere Comes the Sun

  arm Clock, Evangeline, 4061, 1

Listen  on the BBC
Readings
Poem: Reception
Author: John Agard
Publisher: Unpublished

Poem: Under the Cloak
Author: John Agard
Publisher: Unpublished

Poem: What Colour
Book: Yoruba from Cuba: Selected Poems of Nicolas Guillen
Author: Nicolas Guillen
Publisher: Peepal Tree Press
ISBN: 978-1900715973

Poem: Sonnet No. 12
Book: Clever Backbone
Author: John Agard
Publisher: Bloodaxe
ISBN: 978-1852248222

Poem: A Man from the Far Right is having a Nightmare
Book: Travel Light, Travel Dark
Author: John Agard
Publisher: Bloodaxe
ISBN: 978-1852249915

Poem: Travel Light, Travel Dark
Book: Travel Light, Travel Dark
Author: John Agard
Publisher: Bloodaxe
ISBN: 978-1852249915

Queen shares a laugh with John Agard

Yesterday March 12, Guyanese born British poet John Agard was presented  with the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry at Buckingham Palace.

Queen Elizabeth 11 with poet John Agard

Pictures in the Daily Mail  showed the Queen sharing a laugh with John Agard, as she presented him with the honour . What was amusing them both was the back of the  medal which has an image of a naked woman.

Reverse of Poetry Gold Medal

The front  the medal has the crowned effigy of the Queen. The reverse side has the image of a nude woman designed by late French illustrator Edmund Dulac. According to the official explanation, the woman represents  ‘Truth emerging from her well and holding in her right hand the divine flame of inspiration - Beauty is truth and Truth Beauty’.

Both the Queen and  Mr Agard, 63, who writes for adults and children, were amused. .
One of the most highly regarded British poets , Agard has won many awards.  The Gold Medal award was first instituted in 1933 by King George V, and the recipient is chosen by a committee chaired by the Poet Laureate. Previous winners include Stevie Smith, Ted Hughes, Norman MacCaig and Derek Walcott ( the only Black writer before Agard) – a cross-section of poets that Agard describes as “good company”.

Agard is receiving the award  for  two works – his children’s book Goldilocks on CCTV and his anthology Alternative Anthem . Goldilocks on CCTV takes the fairytale characters and gives them a modern, subversive twist. There is a feisty damsel in distress, a Cinderella who wants a motorbike and a host of “bad” characters, like the ugly sisters, the wolf and the beast, who tell their side of the story.

Though he is touched by the honour, for Agard a medal from the Queen means as much as, for example, the letter of congratulations he recently received from his old sixth-form teacher, or the support of friends in Lewes, Sussex where he now lives. His former teacher.N. D. ( Wyck) Williams  is also a writer who won the first Casas de las Americas award to a writer in English for his novel Ikael Torass in 1976. John also won this award in 1982 for his collection of poems  Man to Pan.

Milton Drepaul who was one of the members of the Expression Group which supported Agard and other young aspiring writers in the period 1965-1970 recalls, ' John and his then close friend Terrence Roberts spent many hours at my home reading and debating ideas. My wife Marjeiry encouraged their visits by cooking roti and black pudding. In return they kept us laughing with their satiric interpretations of daily events. I am impressed that John has continued to reach out to children and other non traditional audiences."

The Expression group of writers and painters has contributed much to the world creative scene. Jan Lo Shinebourne is the winner of a Guyana Prize and author of four books: Brian Chan is also a Guyana Prize winner as well as a Canadian Winner;Victor Davson is a New Jersey based painter  His work is in the permanent collections of the Newark Museum, The Montclair Art Museum, the New Jersey State Museum, and the National Collection of Fine Arts, Guyana; Mark McWatt is a Guyana Prize winner and Commonwealth Prize winner; Terrence  Roberts is a Canadian Award winner and is represented in the Guyana National Art Gallery.

Agard  and his wife, the poet Grace Nichols came to the UK in 1977 to continue their dream of becoming international writers. In his interview in the Daily Telegraph he describes feeling the pull of the mother country as a result of a childhood spent studying Chaucer and Shakespeare. It was a strong connection he says, “despite the conflicts and brutalities of the past”. He has spent more time living in Britain than his native homeland, yet he is still heavily influenced by his upbringing in Guyana. As a result, he says continents fill his head space and inspire his creativity.

Agard is best known to generations of British schoolchildren for his poem  Half-Caste  as it featured on the GCSE syllabus for many years. The poem cleverly challenges the reader to consider the term “half-caste” and its associations with inferiority: “Consequently when I dream / I dream half-a-dream / an when moon begin to glow / I half-caste human being / cast half-a-shadow”.

This theme of identity is a powerful presence in Agard’s poetry.