Anthony V. Capildeo

Poet Anthony Vahni Capildeo was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and lives in the UK. One finds a sacred wonder and delight in language in every poem in each of their nine collections and eight chapbooks. In Utter’s (2013) titular poem, beauty is everywhere. The speaker says, “After all this hiding, no surprise / It’s like a thing in translation: / eggshell-shy. A thumb’s worth of glory, / nesting near the coastlines of your palm.” Capildeo’s poems have a sense of roaming curiosity: think of a determined and sensuous leap, rather than an automatic movement to get from A to B. It’s this rare quality that gives readers the sense that they are dancing alongside Capildeo when engaging with their poetry. Selected by The Guardian as among the best in recent poetry, Capildeo’s latest poetry collection, Polkadot Wounds (2024), finds the poet in conversation with beloveds, both living and passed. With an ear for timeless language, it’s no surprise to learn that Capildeo studied Old Norse and translation while earning their DPhil at Oxford University. The recipient of many awards including Forward Prize for Best Collection for Measures of Expatriation (2016) and the Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellowship (2014), Capildeo is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. They are currently a professor and writer-in-residence at the University of York.