Patience Agbabi is a sought-after poet, performer and fellow in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University. She read English at Oxford University and has an MA in Creative Writing from Sussex University. Patience has spent over 20 years celebrating the written and spoken word. In 2004 she was nominated one of the UK’s ‘Next Generation Poets’. Her latest collection is Bloodshot Monochrome (Canongate, 2008).
Patience Agbabi’s poetry ‘Draws on rap, jive and disco rhythms as much as the formal subtleties of free verse…a fine poet’- The Daily Telegraph
She has performed worldwide on British Council-sponsored projects and independent engagements including Glastonbury Festival, Crossing Borders, The Royal Albert Hall, Edinburgh Book Festival, Soho Jazz Festival and the Rough Talk Sweet Song tour of South Africa.
Patience is active in the literature and arts scene and is on the Council of Management for The Arvon Foundation. She’s done a range of poetry residencies from Flamin’ Eight, a North London Tattoo Studio to Eton College. Her most recent solo residency was at The Historic Dockyard at Chatham in 2010. In 2012 she was one of four poets-in-residence for Ilkley Literature Festival.
In 2011, she was commissioned by the National Gallery to create a poem for their Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 exhibition which opened in July 2012. She is currently working with the National Gallery on their Diana and Callisto PSHE project in London Secondary Schools.
She was Canterbury Laureate from 2009 to 2010, and received a Grant for the Arts to write a contemporary version of The Canterbury Tales. 1n 2012 she showcased some of the poems at Poetry Olympics Enlightenment Marathon and Latitude Festival.
'Telling Lies was published by Canongate Books Ltd in April 2014.
Reviews:
"Patience defied her petite form with a massive presence." - Petersfield Herald
"...brought the characters (from her updated Canterbury Tales) to life through her ability to switch accents and dialects." - Petersfield Post |
