Raymond Antrobus – författare

After the death of his father, Raymond returns to Jamaica but restless questions begin to unearth inside him (Who I am now is something I need to remember).Upon returning to the UK Raymond travelled to Bristol, Liverpool, Hastings, Hull and around London to meditate in the places where the pain and grief of history is bigger than his own.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE T.S. ELIOT PRIZE FOR POETRYPOETRY BOOK SOCIETY CHOICE‘I became fatherless at 26 and a fatherat 35 and whenever I look outthe living room window I feel myselfbecome the child left alone in the house’Centred around two lyric poems on imminent fatherhood and the birth of a child, Signs, Music is a book about masculinity, fatherhood, and love. The speaker, looking backwards to his late father and forwards to his new son, prepares to become a parent for the first time. Meditating on the cognitive and emotional dissonances between the ‘hypothetical’ and the ‘real’ of becoming a father, this irreversible transition causes the poet’s ‘lines [to] lead towards my father (again!)’.Charting the ways parenthood disrupts the poet’s sense of self, and how the pain of the past triggers fears of ‘fatherly failure’, Signs, Music is a staggeringly profound collection from one of Britain’s most adept poets writing today.'This is transformative writing creating a new cultural landscape. Antrobus makes us hear between the lines through poems well-crafted with emotional intelligence' – Linton Kwesi Johnson, Mark Oakley and Clare Shaw, judges of the 2018 Ted Hughes Prize.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE T.S. ELIOT PRIZE FOR POETRYPOETRY BOOK SOCIETY CHOICE‘I became fatherless at 26 and a fatherat 35 and whenever I look outthe living room window I feel myselfbecome the child left alone in the house’Centred around two lyric poems on imminent fatherhood and the birth of a child, Signs, Music is a book about masculinity, fatherhood, and love. The speaker, looking backwards to his late father and forwards to his new son, prepares to become a parent for the first time. Meditating on the cognitive and emotional dissonances between the ‘hypothetical’ and the ‘real’ of becoming a father, this irreversible transition causes the poet’s ‘lines [to] lead towards my father (again!)’.Charting the ways parenthood disrupts the poet’s sense of self, and how the pain of the past triggers fears of ‘fatherly failure’, Signs, Music is a staggeringly profound collection from one of Britain’s most adept poets writing today.'This is transformative writing creating a new cultural landscape. Antrobus makes us hear between the lines through poems well-crafted with emotional intelligence' – Linton Kwesi Johnson, Mark Oakley and Clare Shaw, judges of the 2018 Ted Hughes Prize.

From award-winning poet, educator, artist and 2026 Booker Prize judge, a groundbreaking memoir about family, identity, history and language. 'A big-hearted, transformative memoir' New York Times'A quiet revolution' Irish Times'Searing . . . often heart-rending' GuardianRaymond Antrobus was diagnosed as deaf at the age of six. He discovered he had missing sounds - bird calls, whistles, kettles, alarms. Teachers thought he was slow and disruptive, some didn't believe he was deaf at all.The Quiet Ear tells his story - from childhood to fatherhood - and the stories of other D/deaf cultural figures, from painters to silent film stars, poets to performers - the inspiring models of D/deaf creativity Antrobus did not have growing up.Told with the electrifying prose of a poet, this groundbreaking and moving memoir explores family, identity, history and language, and what it means to be in a world saturated with noise.A TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR'Should force readers to pause and reflect' Independent'Wise, intimate and questing' Telegraph'Read this book' Lemn Sissay 'An essential education' Safiya Sinclair'Important, honest, eye-opening and beautifully written' Bernardine Evaristo'A must read' Rose Ayling-Ellis'A modern classic' Roger Robinson'Changed the way I will move through the world' Clint Smith

From award-winning poet, educator, artist and 2026 Booker Prize judge, a groundbreaking memoir about family, identity, history and language. 'A big-hearted, transformative memoir' New York Times'A quiet revolution' Irish Times'Searing . . . often heart-rending' GuardianRaymond Antrobus was diagnosed as deaf at the age of six. He discovered he had missing sounds - bird calls, whistles, kettles, alarms. Teachers thought he was slow and disruptive, some didn't believe he was deaf at all.The Quiet Ear tells his story - from childhood to fatherhood - and the stories of other D/deaf cultural figures, from painters to silent film stars, poets to performers - the inspiring models of D/deaf creativity Antrobus did not have growing up.Told with the electrifying prose of a poet, this groundbreaking and moving memoir explores family, identity, history and language, and what it means to be in a world saturated with noise.A TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR'Should force readers to pause and reflect' Independent'Wise, intimate and questing' Telegraph'Read this book' Lemn Sissay 'An essential education' Safiya Sinclair'Important, honest, eye-opening and beautifully written' Bernardine Evaristo'A must read' Rose Ayling-Ellis'A modern classic' Roger Robinson'Changed the way I will move through the world' Clint Smith

From award-winning poet, educator, artist and 2026 Booker Prize judge, a groundbreaking memoir about family, identity, history and language.'A big-hearted, transformative memoir' New York Times'A quiet revolution' Irish Times'Searing . . . often heart-rending' GuardianRaymond Antrobus was diagnosed as deaf at the age of six. He discovered he had missing sounds - bird calls, whistles, kettles, alarms. Teachers thought he was slow and disruptive, some didn't believe he was deaf at all.The Quiet Ear tells his story - from childhood to fatherhood - and the stories of other D/deaf cultural figures, from painters to silent film stars, poets to performers - the inspiring models of D/deaf creativity Antrobus did not have growing up.Told with the electrifying prose of a poet, this groundbreaking and moving memoir explores family, identity, history and language, and what it means to be in a world saturated with noise.A TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR'Should force readers to pause and reflect' Independent'Wise, intimate and questing' Telegraph'Read this book' Lemn Sissay 'An essential education' Safiya Sinclair'Important, honest, eye-opening and beautifully written' Bernardine Evaristo'A must read' Rose Ayling-Ellis'A modern classic' Roger Robinson'Changed the way I will move through the world' Clint Smith

The debut children's book from award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus, author of The Quiet Ear, that tracks a father-and-son journey into the discovery and management of deafness."This is a powerful and beautifully created book." - Able“This multi-layered, skillfully woven story provides a brilliant insight into how children make sense of their experience when they don’t have the words to describe it.” - The Scotsman“This is a book which should certainly have a place in every primary school for children, teachers, parents and staff.” - The School LibrarianFeatured on the BBC news, the ITV news and in a deaf storyline on Coronation Street as well being the first book to have ever been read entirely in BSL on CBeebies Storytime by Deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis.Boy Bear cannot hear Dad Bear coming to wake him up in the morning. He only grasps little bits of what his teacher and friends say to him. And, all the time, Boy Bear keeps hearing the question, “Can bears ski?” What does it mean? With the support of Dad Bear, Boy Bear visits an audiologist and gets hearing aids. And suddenly, he understands... "CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Now with an illustrated BSL alphabet included, Raymond and Polly draw from their personal experiences of deafness to show how isolating it can be for a deaf child in a hearing world and all the many different ways to communicate love. A great book for creating Deaf Awareness, as well as helping build empathy and making welcoming, inclusive spaces for Deaf children. “The detail of how Little Bear can feel the vibration of Dad’s feet on the floor rather than hear his voice in the morning, and how he can feel the crunch of the snow under his feet when he walks to school, as well as the experience of visiting an audiologist, bring an authenticity to the depiction of being deaf or hard of hearing in childhood alongside a lovely story told in a relatable child voice.” - Booktrust

From the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2019Shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2021'[Raymond Antrobus] has built another beautiful paper house which you can spend a very long and deeply satisfying time inside.' Mark Haddon 'Moving deftly between tenderness and violence, hope and grief, praise and lament, this is a deeply evocative collection that will linger in the reader’s mind.' GuardianRaymond Antrobus’s astonishing debut collection, The Perseverance, won both Rathbone Folio Prize and the Ted Hughes Award, amongst many other accolades; the poet’s much anticipated second collection, All The Names Given, continues his essential investigation into language, miscommunication, place, and memory. Throughout, All The Names Given is punctuated with [Caption Poems] partially inspired by Deaf sound artist Christine Sun Kim, which attempt to fill in the silences and transitions between the poems, as well as moments inside and outside of them. Direct, open, formally sophisticated, All The Names Given breaks new ground both in form and content: the result is a timely, humane and tender book from one of the most important young poets of his generation.

From the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2019Shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2021'[Raymond Antrobus] has built another beautiful paper house which you can spend a very long and deeply satisfying time inside.' Mark Haddon 'Moving deftly between tenderness and violence, hope and grief, praise and lament, this is a deeply evocative collection that will linger in the reader’s mind.' GuardianRaymond Antrobus’s astonishing debut collection, The Perseverance, won both Rathbone Folio Prize and the Ted Hughes Award, amongst many other accolades; the poet’s much anticipated second collection, All The Names Given, continues his essential investigation into language, miscommunication, place, and memory. Throughout, All The Names Given is punctuated with [Caption Poems] partially inspired by Deaf sound artist Christine Sun Kim, which attempt to fill in the silences and transitions between the poems, as well as moments inside and outside of them. Direct, open, formally sophisticated, All The Names Given breaks new ground both in form and content: the result is a timely, humane and tender book from one of the most important young poets of his generation.

In an exciting collaboration between Raymond Antrobus and Ken Wilson-Max, comes a truly authentic and stunningly evocative picture book on brother-sister dynamics and how creativity and storytelling can help resolve conflict and enable better understanding.My sister and me fight!Push Pull Hurt Hide.We would not use our words.This little boy does not get on with his sister. They misunderstand each other, struggle to communicate, and they fight. Afterwards, there’s a lot of hurt, heavy feelings and loneliness. In order to escape their constant rowing and clear his head, the boy often retreats to his bedroom when he writes his stories. He writes stories about terrible horses - trampling and galloping - and he, a lone pony, who cannot compete and cannot speak. But what happens when his sister finds his book? Could it be a way for them to finally understand each other? Filled with empathy and poignance, Terrible Horses is a beautiful and powerful story of managing anger, reflection and learning to see someone else's perspective.

"A poignant, expressive picture book about fraught sibling relationships." - The guardian"Both big and little siblings will see a bit of themselves in this exquisite equine-saturated tale." - Kirkus ReviewsSHORTLISTED for The Oscar's Book Prize 2025SHORTLISTED for the IBC Awards 2025My sister and me fight! / Push Pull Hurt Hide. / We would not use our words.This little boy does not get on with his sister. They misunderstand each other, struggle to communicate, and they fight. Afterwards, there’s a lot of hurt, heavy feelings and loneliness. In order to escape their constant rowing and clear his head, the boy often retreats to his bedroom when he writes his stories. He writes stories about terrible horses – trampling and galloping – and he, a lone pony, who cannot compete and cannot speak. But what happens when his sister finds his book? Could it be a way for them to finally understand each other? Filled with empathy and poignance, Terrible Horses is a beautiful and powerful story of managing anger, reflection and learning to see someone else's perspective.

*Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2019* Winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize 2019 * Winner of the Ted Hughes Award 2018 * Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award * Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize *The Perseverance is the multi-award-winning debut by British-Jamaican poet Raymond Antrobus.Ranging across history and continents, these poems operate in the spaces in between, their haunting lyrics creating new, hybrid territories. The Perseverance is a book of loss, contested language and praise, where elegies for the poet’s father sit alongside meditations on the d/Deaf experience.Audiobook now available from Audible, Amazon and iTunes.

The debut children's book from Ted Hughes award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus that tracks a father-and-son journey into the discovery and management of deafness.Boy Bear cannot hear Dad Bear coming to wake him up in the morning but he can feel the floor vibrate with his heavy footsteps. He can only grasp little bits of what his teacher says to him at school. He cannot catch what his friends are laughing at. And, all the time, Boy Bear keeps hearing the question, “Can Bears ski?” What does it mean? With the support of Dad Bear, Boy Bear visits an audiologist and, eventually, he gets hearing aids. Suddenly, he understands the question everyone has been asking him: "CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Raymond draws on his own experience to show how isolating it can be for a deaf child in a hearing world. But through his lyrical and moving words, matched with Polly's stunning imagery, he also shows how many ways there are to communicate love. With a solid network, Boy Bear will find his place in the world.