Anthony Barnett is an English poet and music historian.
His volumes of poetry and short prose include collected The Resting Bell (Allardyce, Barnett, 1987) and Miscanthus: Selected and New Poems (Shearsman, 2005). He was the publisher of the first edition of J. H. Prynne’s collected Poems (1982) and edited Veronica Forrest-Thomson’s Collected Poems and Translations (1990) and Collected Poems (2008). His work is represented in the anthologies A Various Art; Poets on Writing: Britain, 1970–1991; "Other: British and Irish Poetry since 1970; and Cambridge University Press Contexts in Literature Contemporary Poetry: Poets and Poetry Since 1990. His translations include Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Anne-Marie Albiach, Roger Giroux, Pär Lagerkvist, Tarjei Vesaas and Andrea Zanzotto. In 2002 he was visiting scholar at the Center for International Programs, Meiji University, Tokyo.
He has worked as a percussionist, notably with John Tchicai, and has written extensively on African-American violinists, in particular Stuff Smith and Eddie South. He is also the author of a book about the pianist friend of Nancy Cunard Listening for Henry Crowder (Allardyce Book, 2007). He produces CDs for the AB Fable Violin Improvisation Studies series.