Happy birthday, Linton Kwesi Johnson - Awarded PEN Pinter Prize 2020

Linton Kwesi Johnson, the man who has been bestowed with the title ‘the world’s first reggae poet’, celebrates his birthday today. He turns 68.

The Jamaican dub poet and activist, who was born on August 24, 1952 in Chapelton, Clarendon, has proven himself a master in his field and has scooped many awards and accolades in a career replete with the extraordinary. A prophet who has been honoured in his own country, Johnson was the recipient of the Silver Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica for “eminence in the field of poetry”, and in 2014 the Jamaican government awarded him the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, for his achievements in poetry and popular music.

Last month, it was announced that the PEN Pinter Prize 2020 would be awarded to Johnson. The organisers say that Johnson will receive the award in a digital ceremony co-hosted by the British Library on October 12, where he will deliver an address.

Johnson is quoted as saying: “Having received a Golden PEN award from English PEN in 2013, I was surprised to learn that, seven years later, I have now been awarded the PEN Pinter Prize. Awards are the nourishment of every artist’s ego. It is always nice to be acknowledged. It is especially gratifying to receive an award that honours the memory of esteemed dramatist, Harold Pinter, free thinker, anti-imperialist and human rights champion. I would like to thank English PEN and the judges for their kind consideration in honouring me again.”

The British-based dub poet legend, who has been a star attraction at Jamaica’s much-anticipated Calabash Literary Festival, was such an obvious choice for the PEN award, that the decision by the committee to honour him took “two seconds”. One of the judges, The Guardian’s associate editor for culture, Claire Armitstead, admitted, “Once we had laid our nominations on the table, it took all of two seconds to agree that we had a clear and outstanding winner for the PEN Pinter Prize 2020. Linton Kwesi Johnson is a poet, reggae icon, academic and campaigner, whose impact on the cultural landscape over the last half-century has been colossal and multigenerational. His political ferocity and his tireless scrutiny of history are truly Pinteresque, as is the humour with which he pursues them.”

He was also hailed by the judges for embodying “the power of poetry to enact change” and his unwavering commitment to political expression in his work.

According to his bio, Johnson migrated to London in 1963, attended the Tulse Hill Secondary School and studied Sociology at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. While at school, he joined the Black Panthers, helped to organise a poetry workshop within the movement and developed his work with Rasta Love, a group of poets and drummers. In 1977, he was awarded a C Day Lewis Fellowship, becoming the writer-in-residence for the London Borough of Lambeth for that year.

In 1974, Race Today published his first poetry collection, Voices of the Living and the Dead. Dread Beat An’ Blood was published in 1975 by Bogle-L’Ouverture and was also the title of his first LP released by Virgin (1978). That year also saw the release of the film Dread Beat An’ Blood, a documentary on Johnson’s work. In 1980 Race Today published Inglan Is A Bitch and there were four more albums with Island: Forces of Victory (1979); Bass Culture (1980); LKJ in Dub (1981) and Making History (1983).

During the virtual PEN Pinter Prize ceremony in October, the organisers say that Johnson will announce his co-winner, the International Writer of Courage 2020.