Interview with Anthony Anaxagorou

It’s not every day you get to interview one of your writing heroes, let alone someone you’ve watched, (or should I say listened to), obsessively on YouTube in the months leading up to meeting them.  I have to confess, I binge watch spoken word of an evening (in breaks from homework, of course!), and British born Cypriot heritage poet, Anthony Anaxagorou, is a favourite of mine. Anthony’s work and voice, is instantly recognisable through poems such as ‘If I Told You’, ‘I Am Not A Poet’, and ‘You’.

I was lucky enough to get an Arts Award interview with Anthony recently while he was over in Sheffield for a performance at Sheffield Hallam University (thanks to Hassun El Zafar for supporting this).  Here, among other things, Anthony talks to me about his writing journey, why he’s interested is particular themes and issues in his work, and why poetry is his arithmetic of choice.

Interview Alliyah Begum | Camera: Warda Yassin | With thanks to: Sheffield Hallam University, Hassun El Zafar & of course, Anthony Anaxagorou.