Anthony Anaxagorou

Stories Seldom Told

"I think affinity bias is the one where I feel is the deal breaker , if you can meet someone, and you can see something in them, that reflect you be a principle, be a belief, be it a way that you would like to be seen. I think that's the one that draws you in, you know, we talk about being charismatic, we talk about being charming,some people are very naturally charismatic, which means it's not, you know, they're not learned. It's not trained. But I also think there's an element of how does that charisma impact and affect us in different ways?" Anthony Anaxagorou is a British-born Cypriot poet, fiction writer, essayist, publisher and poetry educator. Anthony is the winner of the 2023 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje prize for his most recent poetry collection “Heritage Aesthetics” published by Granta. The chair of judges, journalist Samira Ahmed, said Anthony’s poetry “is beautiful, but does not sugar coat. The arsenic of historical imperial arrogance permeates the Britain he explores in his writing. And the joy of this collection comes from his strength, knowledge, maturity, but also from deeply felt love.” His poetry has been published in POETRY, The Poetry Review, Poetry London, New Statesman, Granta, and elsewhere. His work has also appeared on BBC Newsnight, BBC Radio 4, ITV, Vice UK, Channel 4 and Sky Arts. His second collection After the Formalities published with Penned in the Margins is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and was shortlisted for the 2019 T.S Eliot Prize along with the 2021 Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections. It was also a Telegraph and Guardian poetry book of the year. In 2022 he founded Propel Magazine, an online literary journal featuring the work of poets yet to publish a first collection. Anthony is artistic director of Out-Spoken, a monthly poetry and music night held at London’s Southbank Centre, and publisher of Out-Spoken Press. This is what one reviewer says of Anthony and his work ‘One of the most politically engaged poets of our time, Anthony holds the busy intersectionality of history, politics and ideology in poems that remain fresh and open. To stay up to date, follow @SmitaTharoor on Smita Tharoor (@SmitaTharoor) / Twitter or Smita Tharoor (@smitatharoor) | Instagram and follow the podcast on your favorite streaming service.