As a young man, Anthony Joseph dreamed of becoming a rock star, not a critically acclaimed poet. In fact, had it not been for a box of papers he brought to the UK from Trinidad, where he grew up, the 56-year-old might never have come to write Sonnets for Albert, the collection that on Monday won him this year’s TS Eliot prize.
In the early 90s, the poet spent three years as the lead singer of Zedd, a “four-piece heavy Black rock band”. Shortly after Zedd disbanded, Joseph was unwell and stuck at home when he rediscovered the box he had brought with him when he moved to the UK in 1989. It contained sheets of lyrics and poems he had written while living with his grandparents as a teenager.
