Goldust is a poet and workshop retreat facilitator whose work is driven and inspired by human relationships with a definite bias towards those held between men and women. The man woman dynamic is the highest spiritual and emotional journey we can experience and Goldust’s poetry and work reflect the many nuances of those fruitful and not so fruitful encounters.

She is fascinated by the nature of human relationships and the spiritual bonds they hold, this makes her work an analysis of our interactions rather than just a rehash of her own experiences. In today’s celebrity obsessed times, where we are distracted from the inner soul and transfixed by the external, Goldust’s work is the polar extreme. What was your role in what just happened? Positive or negative, the recognition of ownership is laced throughout her poetry pieces and the main focus of her workshops.

Goldust became a serious poet around 1983 and has a deep respect of her peers Linton Kwesi Johnson and Benjamin zephaniah, like these poets she is very mindful of the karma she creates. Part of this is having a great respect for humanity and in her own words “inspiring you, making you in some way a better person and leaving you with joy, I do this through living consciously”.

Anthea Smith (Goldust) came to the UK at the age of 12, she was born in Grenada, although she went to school in Trinidad, which set in her a travellers nature. Her globe trotting was set from an early age and from living in Germany and the UK to working in Jamaica, Belize and Norway her mind was made open to many different cultures and their ways of thinking, with the human spirit at the centre.

The workshop facilitator role comes of her stance on the subject of change, “I’m reassured about the changing aspects of life, that nothing is permanent and that even the hardest challenges that we face are only temporary, because everything comes to an end”. Part of this wisdom came at the end of her 13 year marriage, which enabled her to realise that you can catch yourself falling by listening to your inner voice, the soul part of you.