John Haynes

John Haynes (1936-2021) was a British poet born in Newquay, Cornwall, known for his long poems inspired by his time in Nigeria, where he lectured at Ahmadu Bello University and met his wife Afiniki. His most notable work, the book-length poem Letter to Patience (Seren, 2006), won the Costa Poetry Prize, and his collection You (Seren, 2010) was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize; he also received prizes in the National and Arvon Poetry Competitions. Other works include Sabon Gari (1974) and First the Desert Came and then the Torturer (1986, as Idi Bukar), alongside books on African poetry and language.