Jason Allen-Paisant

Scholar | Poet | Writer

About Me

Jason Allen-Paisant

I’m Jason Allen-Paisant, a scholar, award-winning poet, and writer. My work explores how Afro-diasporic artists and communities shape their futures through embodied philosophies, focusing on the intersections of poetry and philosophy.

My debut poetry collection Thinking with Trees won the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. My second book, Self-Portrait as Othello, has earned significant accolades, including the 2023 Forward Prize for Best Collection and the T.S. Eliot Prize.

I’m also a Professor of Critical Theory and Creative Writing at the University of Manchester.

Featured Books

Recent Video highlights

Updates from my desk

A Jamaican Poet in Dublin

On St Patrick’s Day, Sunday 17th March 2024, I presented ‘A Jamaican Poet in Dublin’ on BBC Radio 4. This programme was produced by Claire Cunningham, with poet

Conversation with Professor David Scott

Really looking forward to this conversation with Professor David Scott, renowned anthropologist and founder & editor of Small Axe, on 9th April at the Institute for Ideas and

Aimé Césaire: Thinking through Resonance

Thanks to leading global literary magazine Words Without Borders for commissioning this essay meant to coincide with my latest book Engagements with Aimé Césaire, published just last month. In

Association of Scotland John Masefield Lecture

From the website of the Byre Theatre: ‘As the war in Gaza continues, as the scale of the violence and suffering surpasses our understanding, Allen-Paisant considers how poetry,

The Othellos of this World:

I’m genuinely so, so happy that this interview exists. As any writer will say, having this depth of attention paid to your work is a gift, and I

Kicking the Can Down the Road

‘Kicking the Can Down the Road’, my craft essay for The Poetry School. I talk about interruption, the centrality of the body in my work, about learning to