Linton Kwesi Johnson

Apr 25, 2024 | panmacmillan.com | Andrew O'Hagan |Caledonian Road |Linton Kwesi Johnson |Jeanette Winterson

AmazonBlackwell'sBookshop.orgFoylesWaterstonesWH SmithWorderyImprint: PicadorSynopsisMay Day is the long-awaited new poetry collection from one of our best-loved poets and former Makar of Scotland, Jackie Kay. These poems cast an eye over several decades of political activism, from the international solidarity of the Glasgow of Kay’s childhood, accompanying her parents’ Socialist campaigns, through the feminist, LGBT+ and anti-racist movements of the 80s and 90s, up to...

Apr 13, 2023 | bookanista.com | Linton Kwesi Johnson

I am often asked why I started to write poetry. The answer is that my motivation sprang from a visceral need to creatively articulate the experiences of the black youth of my generation, coming of age in a racist society. Some of my early work dealt with fratricidal violence and internecine warfare, not too dissimilar to the mindless gang warfare of today.