Fred D’Aguiar was born in London in 1960, and grew up in Guyana, returning to Britain at the age of 12. His first two collections, Mama Dot (1985) and Airy Hall (1989), were published by Chatto, Mama Dot winning a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and Airy Hall the Guyana Prize for Poetry. In 1992 his poem-film Sweet Thames was shown in BBC 2’s Words on Film series, winning the Race in the Media Award, and his play A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death, was staged at the Royal Court Theatre. He has held the Judith E. Wilson Fellowship at the University of Cambridge and was Northern Arts Literary Fellow in Newcastle and Durham. He now lectures at the University of Miami.