John Agard facts for kids

John Agard FRSL (born June 21, 1949) is a famous writer from Guyana who now lives in Britain. He writes plays, poems, and books for children. In 2012, he received a very special award called the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. In 2021, he also won the BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award, which means he's been recognized for his amazing work over many years.

About John Agard

John Agard was born in a place called British Guiana, which is now known as Guyana. He grew up in the city of Georgetown. As a child, he really enjoyed listening to cricket games on the radio. He even started making up his own commentary! This fun activity helped him fall in love with words and language.

He studied English, French, and Latin in school. He wrote his first published poems while he was still a teenager. After leaving school in 1967, he taught languages. He also worked in a local library, surrounded by books. John Agard was also a writer for a newspaper called the Guyana Sunday Chronicle. He wrote two books while he was still living in Guyana.

In 1977, John Agard moved to Britain with his partner, Grace Nichols, who is also a poet. They settled in a town called Ironbridge, in Shropshire. In Britain, he worked for the Commonwealth Institute and the BBC in London.

His Famous Poems

John Agard has written many poems that are popular with students. Two of his well-known poems are "Half Caste" and "Checking Out Me History." These poems have been included in English GCSE study books. This means many students (around 13–16 years old) in the UK have studied his work in school.

John Agard now lives in Lewes, East Sussex, with his partner, Grace Nichols.

Awards and Recognition

John Agard has won many important awards for his writing. Here are some of them:

• 1982: Casa de las Américas Prize (Cuba) for his book Man to Pan
• 1987: Shortlisted for the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for Lend Me Your Wings
• 1995: Won the Bronze Award in the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (6–8 years category) for We Animals Would Like a Word With You
• 1997: Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry
• 2004: Cholmondeley Award
• 2007: Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Decibel Writer of the Year for We Brits
• 2007: Became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
• 2009: Won the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education poetry award for The Young Inferno
• 2012: Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
• 2021: BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award