John Agard was born in Guyana and emigrated to Britain in 1977. He has worked as an actor and a performer with a jazz group and spent several years with the Commonwealth Institute, travelling all over Britain giving talks, performances and workshops. He has visited literally thousands of schools. His poem 'Half-caste' is on the AQA English GCSE syllabus, and every year he tours the country performing with other top poets for GCSE students. He lives in Sussex and is married to Grace Nichols, herself a respected Caribbean poet.