Photo: Bryan Ledgard / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Linton Kwesi Johnson fascinates me because he turned reggae's pulse into literature without diluting either. Reciting verse in Jamaican patois over Dennis Bovell's dub, he made performance poetry that was both political weapon and art, and the establishment eventually had to acknowledge it. Becoming the second living poet published in Penguin Modern Classics is staggering for someone who refused to soften his voice for the page. I admire that his Jamaican roots and British activism never pulled apart; they fused into something singular. The string of honors, from the Order of Distinction to the PEN Pinter Prize, reads to me as the world catching up to him.
Overview
Linton Kwesi Johnson CD (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaican-born, British-based dub poet and activist. In 2002, he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His performance poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with reggae producer/artist Dennis Bovell.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Linton Kwesi Johnson
- Name (Japanese)
- リントン・クウェシ・ジョンソン
- Reading
- りんとん・くうぇし・じょんそん
- Born
- August 24, 1952 (age 73)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Dragon
- Origin
- Chapelton, Jamaica
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- singer / poet / writer / songwriter / recording artist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Goldsmiths, University of London
Awards & achievements
- 2012 Golden PEN Award
- 2005 Silver Musgrave Medal
- Order of Distinction
- 2013 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- 2020 PEN Pinter Prize
- 2018 Cholmondeley Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Singer — see all → · Poet — see all → · More people from Jamaica →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.