Roger Robinson FRSL is a British writer, musician and performer who lives between England and Trinidad. He is best known for A Portable Paradise, which won the T. S. Eliot Prize 2019.Flood, Alison (17 October 1919), "TS Eliot prize unveils shortlist of 'fearless poets'", The Guardian.
Early life Robinson was born in Hackney, London, to Trinidadian parents, and at the age of four went with them to live in Trinidad, returning to England when he was 19"Roger Robinson – biography", Meet the Poets, Barbican. in the 1980s, He initially lived with his grandmother in Ilford, Essex, before moving to Brixton.Armitstead, Claire (16 January 2020), "TS Eliot prize-winner Roger Robinson: ‘I want these poems to help people to practise empathy’", The Guardian. He describes himself as "a British resident with a Trini sensibility".Davina Morris, "Trini poet Roger Robinson", Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 17 August 2009.
Spoken word, dub, music
From the early 1990s, Robinson has practised as a spoken-word performer in London. He has performed with the bands Techno Animal, Flytronix, The Bug, Attica Blues and Speeka."Roger Robinson", Westbury Music. Robinson is the lead vocalist for the musical crossover project King Midas Sound. Their debut album Waiting for You was released on Hyperdub Records,"Roger Robinson", Book Slam."King Midas Sound", Festival Searcher. and was named among the top 50 releases of 2009 in The Wire."About", Roger Robinson. His solo album of spoken folk, illclectica, was named by Mojo as one of the top 10 electronic albums of that year. In 2015 he released Dis Side Ah Town described as "an album that lyrically recalls the most incisive and suggestive lyricists in dub and roots reggae".Neil Kulkarni, "Reading The Riot Act: Roger Robinson Interviewed", The Quietus, 13 July 2015. Heaven's Lathe released Robinson's "Sound Man" as a single in 2024.
His one-man spoken-word shows The Shadow Boxer, Letter from My Father's Brother and Prohibition all premiered at the British Festival of Visual Theatre at Battersea Arts Centre. Robinson's commissions have included work for the Theatre Royal Stratford East, the National Trust, London Open House, the National Portrait Gallery, LIFT and the Tate.
Poetry
In 1999, Robinson was one of 30 poets chosen for the New Generation Poets collection at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Robinson went on to publish four collections of poetry between 2004 and 2019. Robinson has toured with the British Council.
In 2010, his collection Suckle won the People's Book Prize.
His 2013 collection The Butterfly Hotel was one of three poetry titles shortlisted for the 2014 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature."Ten writers vie for the 2014 OCM Bocas Prize", Bocas Lit Fest, 25 February 2013.
A Portable Paradise (Peepal Tree Press) won the T. S. Eliot Prize 2019. Robinson is the second writer of Caribbean heritage to win this prize, the highest value award in UK poetry, following Derek Walcott in 2010. Robinson's victory was further described as significant for small presses. A Portable Paradise went on to be the second book of poetry to win the Ondaatje Prize in May 2020.
Poetry community Until 2000, Robinson was programme co-ordinator of the performance poetry organisation Apples and Snakes. His workshops have been a part of a shortlist for the Gulbenkian Prize for Museums and Galleries and were also a part of the Barbican Centre's Can I Have A Word."Roger Robinson's workshop", The Guardian, 24 November 2009. He is a co-founder of London poetry collective Malika's Poetry Kitchen with fellow poets Malika Booker and Jacob-Sam La Rose.
Robinson was chosen by arts organisation Decibel as one of 50 writers who have influenced black-British writing over the past 50 years.
Bibliography Poetry collections
Short fiction
Albums Heavy Vibes (Jahtari, 2024) Dog Heart City (Jahtari, 2017) Dis Side Ah Town (Jahtari, 2015) illclectica (Altered Vibes, 2004)
Awards and recognition
2019: T. S. Eliot Prize 2020: Ondaatje Prize for A Portable Paradise 2020: elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL)
References
External links
Philip Nanton, "Homestyle" (review of Suckle), Caribbean Review of Books, September 2010. "The Butterfly Hotel – video by Roger Robinson", 25 May 2013. Roger Robinson at Writers Mosaic.