Pioneering reggae poet
My sister poet and recording artist, Jean Binta Breeze, MBE, passed away last night in Jamaica. She had been suffering from COPD, a lung disease for some time. I first met Jean in the late nineteen seventies when she was a part of the ‘dub poetry’ movement based at the Jamaica School of Drama alongside…
It’s with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of reggae musician Vivian Weathers on 1st May 2021. We both attended Tulse Hill Secondary School in south London, were in the same class in our first year and were friends from the age of eleven. He was 69 years old. Vivian was…
Linton Kwesi Johnson is excited to be taking part in this year’s official @RSDayUK Drop on 12th June with a special release of Making History. Remastered at Abbey Road Studios and pressed on heavyweight yellow vinyl, you can get a copy from a participating indie record shop near you: https://RecordStoreDay.lnk.to/Stores #RSD21 #RSDDrops
Poet Linton Kwesi Johnson has been awarded the PEN Pinter Prize 2020. He will receive the award in a digital ceremony co-hosted by the British Library on 12 October, where he will deliver an address. Linton Kwesi Johnson was chosen by this year’s judges: The Guardian’s Associate Editor for Culture and English PEN trustee Claire…
Linton Kwesi Johnson was awarded the Golden PEN Award from English PEN on 3 December for his lifetime achievement in poetry and his record of activism. Johnson was not able to attend the ceremony at the Free Word Centre in London, but had made a video where he stressed how he has never sought validation…