Anthony Anaxagorou is a British-born Cypriot poet, writer, essayist, publisher and poetry educator. He 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, described Anthony’s poetry as “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. 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.

"That's the deal breaker. If you can meet someone, and you can see something in them, that reflects you, be it a principle, be it a belief, be it a way that you would like to be seen. I think that's the one that draws you in. We talk about being charismatic, we talk about being charming. Some people are very naturally charismatic, which means it's not trained. But I also think there's an element of how does that charisma impact and affect us in different ways?"

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