The Birth of The Alfred Fagon Award

The circumstances  concerning Alfred Fagon’s death was quite contestable since most people wasn’t quite sure based on the information posted online regarding his death, required some further explanation. On the 29th August 1986  Alfred Fagon experienced a fatal heart attack while jogging home.

The police at the time proclaimed that they  were not able to locate any identifiable documents on him, as a result he was given a pauper’s funeral. When he did not turn up for a meeting at the BBC they contacted his agent Harriet Cruickshank who eventually discovered what had happened to him. Alfred Fagon’s friends and family decided to set up an award in his name, to celebrate and recognize writers of Caribbean and African descent.

Finally the Alfred Fagon Award was  created in 1997 and is today is supported by The Peggy Ramsay Foundation, The Royal Court Theatre and Talawa Theatre Company.

Additional information regarding Alfred Fagon history can be found on The Victoria and Albert Museum: Theatre Collections.