I’m coming up to album number 10, which will be released later this year, so I wanted to look over all the ideas of the Caribbean that I’ve been using in the past three decades. This retrospective is a good way of consolidating this body of work and making a cohesive statement.
Dr Anthony Joseph, Lecturer in Creative Writing
01 May 2025
King's academic to perform retrospective at Philharmonie de Paris
Dr Anthony Joseph, Lecturer in Creative Writing in the Department of English, will perform a retrospective of his work titled ‘The Caribbean is everywhere’ at the Philharmonie de Paris on 17 May.
‘The Caribbean is everywhere’ begins in the Caribbean before European colonialism and slavery, and moves from the past towards a future based on Afrofuturism. Through the show’s five chapters, each containing two songs, the Caribbean is represented as a transitory, liminal space marked by simultaneity.
Using the ideas of Caribbean thinkers such as Édouard Glissant and Antonio Benítez-Rojo, Dr Joseph’s performance repositions the Caribbean as the centre of the world and presents creolisation as a ripple and a quantum process through which cultures interact.
Drawing from his work over 30 years as an award-winning poet, a novelist and a musician with nine albums, Dr Joseph will perform excerpts from his poems and writings alongside his band, led by the producer Dave Okumu.
I’m very much looking forward to taking to the stage with Anthony and presenting his thematically consistent oeuvre in a musical context. The concepts, intentions and musicality of the words lend themselves beautifully to interpretation – a creolisation in and of itself. We’ve assembled a wonderful team to convey the poetry in this unique setting.
David Okumu, music producer
Dr Joseph’s albums are often released to align with the publication of his writing, with themes of his work mirrored across both mediums; for example, his two latest albums act as musical sequels to his debut novel, The African Origins of UFOs, which will feature highly in his performance at the Philharmonie de Paris. His musical style is typically based in Afro-Caribbean jazz, with rock, funk and psychedelic elements.
The show is drawing on a lot of the poetry and music I’ve done before, pulling that together with material from the new albums. I’ve been lucky to be able to produce albums that come out at the same time as my books, so they speak to each other.
Dr Anthony Joseph, Lecturer in Creative Writing
This performance is part of a special events programme at the Philharmonie de Paris on the Caribbean to mark the reopening of the Musée de la musique and to celebrate Creole cultures and their archipelagic thinking.
It’s a special venue, the best in Paris – the acoustics are pretty amazing. When you play there, you feel you’ve definitely arrived at something.
Dr Anthony Joseph, Lecturer in Creative Writing
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Lecturer in Creative Writing