Anthony Joseph
Poet & Musician .
Anthony Joseph is a poet, novelist, musician and lecturer described as ‘the leader of the black avant-garde in Britain’. His written work and performance occupies a space between surrealism, Jazz and the rhythms of Caribbean speech and music. He is the author of four poetry collections and a novel The African Origins of UFOs. In 2005 he was selected by the Arts Council of England and Renaissance One as one of 50 Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to contemporary British literature.
WM: So what does the future hold for Anthony Joseph?
AJ: More of the same, as far as the teaching is concerned I’ll be continuing with that, this year thus far no real concert dates set up as yet, though in the meantime completing my next album of which I’m in the process of recording as we speak, so yeah, generally more of the same.
WM: What advice, if any, do you have for any budding authors?
AJ: Again, originality, if your work can appear original, have some kind of relevance to people’s lives this will set you apart, the same philosophy my writing is born out of.
WM: Anthony Joseph, thank you, all the best with the forthcoming album and everything else you’ll be doing.
AJ: You are most welcome.
Anthony Joseph
WM: To start with, in terms of poetry as an art, what do you deem the most important aspect?
AJ: Wow, not sure how to answer that, right now there seems to be more Poets than people who are interested in poetry, in that case, for me, one of the most important aspects is originality, it’s about living in a state of openness, and being able to let thoughts and feelings pass through your consciousness, it’s about living by your instincts, and in turn your work; the poetry becoming original, and when we say ‘original’ we are referring to what tends to grab peoples imagination.
WM: After looking at your portfolio, along with the varied people you’ve worked with, where has your art taken you?
AJ: I’m forty eight years old, and in that time my music and my poetry has taken me all over the world, to date I’ve recorded five albums and it’s been a great experience, Europe has been a familiar destination, I’ve managed to work with a varied list of artists and supporting acts while in concert, as well as working on the albums, and the opportunity to travel; the fact that I’m able to express my art, through music, has been the most enjoyable aspect of my career, and I have no target audience of whom I aim my music to, this in itself giving me and my music free reign to impact on whoever, where ever and whenever.
WM: And your writing, how has that played the role it has in your life?
AJ: Writing has always been a very important aspect of what I do, like my music there’s always this creative energy that is always enthused by seeking new ways to deliver your own creative thought process, again the originality being what makes you as an artist stand out, with respect to writing, for the past eight years I have been teaching creative writing at Birebeck College, and it’s very full-filling, working with different minds and different creative outlooks, as a writer, inspired by language used to translate feelings, all very full-filling.