Talent

0.000

Nii Ayikwei Parkes

Biography

Nii Ayikwei Parkes grew up in Ghana but was born in the UK where he later returned for further study, where with the friendship and tutelage of fellow black poets he became a vibrant new voice in British performance poetry. Parkes has published five books of poems, beginning with the pamphlet eyes of a boy, lips of a man (1999), M is for Madrigal (2004), and the Michael Marks Award-shortlisted ballast: a remix (2009). His debut collection, The Makings of You, was published by Peepal Press in 2010. That year, Parkes also published his first novel, Tail of the Blue Bird, which was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize and translated into multiple languages, winning both of France’s major prizes for translated fiction – Prix Baudelaire and Prix Laure Bataillon. His most recent collection, The Geez, was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for 2020, described by PBS as navigating ‘the blurred lines between age and youth; the real and the imagined; what is seen and what is.’ The Geez was also longlisted for the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize and shortlisted for the Walcott Prize for Poetry. Other honours include visiting positions at the University of Southampton and California State University, and Ghana’s national ACRAG award for poetry and literacy advocacy. The poems selected here chart Parkes’ continuing and deepening commitment to joy, to the sense of play and discovery felt throughout his work – from ‘Blowing Smoke’ in his most recent collection to ‘Ghana By Air’.

News / Ranking / Titbits / Awards

2021. ‘The GA Picture Alphabet’ shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize. 2021. ‘The Geeze’ longlisted for the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize. 2020. ‘The Geez’ – Poetry Book Society Recommendation. 2014. ‘Tail of the Blue Bird’ Winner of the Prix Mahogany prize. 2010. ‘Tail of the Blue Bird’ Die Welt Top-10 Crime Book.

Talent

Nii Ayikwei Parkes

Biography

News / Ranking / Titbits / Awards

Interested in this talent?

Our Partner and Supporter