He began writing as a young child and cites his main influences as calypso, surrealism, jazz, the spiritual Baptist church that his grandparents attended, and the rhythms of Caribbean speech.

[7] Joseph is the author of the poetry collections Desafinado (1994), Teragaton (1997), Bird Head Son (2009) and Rubber Orchestras (2011).

Described as an "afro-psychedelic-noir, a poetic work of metafiction, mythology and afro-futurism",[citation needed] the book was endorsed by Kamau Brathwaite, Linton Kwesi Johnson, and Lauri Ramey, who hailed it in her introduction as "a future fiction classic".

Reviewing the book, Ali Alizadeh called Joseph "both a faithful heir and an agnostic rebel; a Black poet haunted by Africa's past as well as a bilingual post-modernist amused by the possibilities of the future.

The album was recorded over two days in Meudon, France, with guests Keziah Jones, Joseph Bowie, and vibraphonist David Neerman.

In 2012, Joseph represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Poetry Parnassus Festival on London's South Bank Centre.

[14][15] In 2023, he was awarded the T. S. Eliot Prize for Sonnets for Albert, judged by Jean Sprackland (chair), Hannah Lowe and Roger Robinson,[16] who described the book as "a luminous collection which celebrates humanity in all its contradictions and breathes new life into this enduring form".