Time Come

Selected Prose

By: Linton Kwesi Johnson, Paul Gilroy - introduction

Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe - introduction, Linton Kwesi Johnson

Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Recognized as one of the great poets of modern times, and as a deeply respected and influential political and cultural activist and social critic, Linton Kwesi Johnson is also a prolific writer of non-fiction. In Time Come, he selects some of his most powerful prose – book and record reviews published in newspapers and magazines, lectures, obituaries and speeches – for the first time. Written over many decades, it is a body of work that draws creatively and critically on Johnson’s own Jamaican roots and on Caribbean history to explore the politics of race that continue to inform the Black British experience.

Ranging from reflections on the place of music in Caribbean and Black British culture as a creative, defiant response to oppression, to his penetrating appraisals of music and literature, and including warm tributes paid to the activists and artists who inspired him to find his own voice as a poet and compelled him to contribute to the struggle for racial equality and social justice, Time Come is a panorama of an exceptional life. A collection that ventures into memoir, it underscores Johnson’s enduring importance in Britain’s cultural history and reminds us of his brilliant, unparalleled legacy.

With an introduction by Paul Gilroy, author of There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack

©2023 Linton Kwesi Johnson (P)2023 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

'Key to understanding black British history' - Sunday Times

'Sharp and still relevant' - Zadie Smith

'A mosaic of wise, urgent and moving pieces' - Kit de Waal

A brilliant introduction to Jamaican lyrical art

In the beginning of the first chapter, I was wondering if I’d like this book. For reasons only my white upbringing can explain, I couldn’t relate to what was being said. But I am very glad I didn’t give up after half an hour, like I normally would with an audio book I don’t immediately ‘gel’ with. LKJ explains and gives context to life that is Jamaican, ‘Rastafarai’ through reviews of fellow artists work, as well as his own. A well researched, well written prose of Jamaican rasta music and poetry, as well as other black literary writings. Thank you, to the author for educating me to life on the other side of the tracks, so to speak. This work aims to remove those proverbial tracks. I hope everyone who listens to this book comes away with more empathy and understanding and acceptance and tolerance - if you do, that’s one step towards a better world.