Born on Antigua on the 3rd of September 1951.
Having completed his education at Antigua Grammar School aged 17, like so many of his countrymen, Joe set out on a lifetime of travel and discovery. His first job on the inter-island cruise liners established his wanderlust for life, and his interest in the people and their stories, who he met along the way. Eventually ending up serving for 5 years in the Royal Airforce where as a boxer Joe won several "Belts" including the RAF Novice Championship in 1975-6 followed by the Strike Command Heavyweight title in his first season.
Since then, his deep love for his family has been one of the great sources from which he has drawn comfort and inspiration, in those times of need. His late Father Josiah and his dearly departed Mother have, and continue to be a source of power. Both of them having deep musical roots, this creative legacy they have passed to all their children. All his sisters are respected Choral singers in London, Wales and Bermuda. It was during this time that he became known as "Antigua Joe". His musical ambitions and his poetry have become his life, his simple direct performance style and his Joi de vivre has made him many friends in all corners of the world.
The poems on this Web site are taken from his first book of poetry, which is dedicated to Enid his mother, Josiah his Father, Sonia, Veronica and Kathleen, his Sisters and their children and the many friends whom he has made, through his performances.
Me? I am one of those friends, I can tell you that U have had to date little but joy from our friendship and that when you have met this man through his work you too will feel the magic.
That is "Antigua Joe" Joseph
Antigua Joe brings to his performances a taste of the island of his birth, a genuine warmth as the show develops, becomes harder to resist.
The show revolves around the interplay of song, poetry and anecdote which reflect the long African tradition of the storyteller / minstrel which has travelled throughout the world in the wake of the enforced exile, imposed by the imperial nations. This heritage is incredibly rich and diverse, and has remarkably little bitterness, rather an insight into the humanity of the African psyche which has risen above the terrible deprivation of freedom that has been afflicting that continent for several millennia.
The over-riding joi-de-vivre of Antigua Joe in performance makes you realise the way forward is to celebrate and honour the past whilst fully embracing the future with a blind faith in the humanity that surrounds us all.
This inescapable truth is there for all to feel. It requires an honest re-evaluation of the place of our birth and an admission of the wrong doing of our ancestors, without taking on the extreme attitude of guilt by association.
The reality of life, is that all we require is honesty and loyalty in order to achieve humanity.
So, with all that aside, Antigua Joe weaves a spell of words and music which is able to transcend his heritage. In a performance which leaves all of the participants with a feeling of hope, he poses a series of questions, backed up by the answers in many forms. All you, as the observers, have to do is to see past the stereotypes and open your heart to other ideas. Your reward is a feeling of well-being, and hopefully the awakening of your heart and mind to other possibilities and a different view of reality long taken as read.
Antigua Joe's talent is for the communication of ideas, equally at home with adults and children, and those ideas are simple truths delivered with blinding honesty.