Roger Robinson is a British writer, musician and performer who lives between England and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

."Roger Robinson" page
at Literature, British Council. His book ''A Portable Paradise'' (

Peepal Tree Press Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. It was founded after a paper shortage in Guyana halted production of new bo ...

) won the prestigious

T. S. Eliot Prize The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize that was, for many years, awarded by the Poetry Book Society (UK) to "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Priz ...

2019, announced in London in January 2020.Flood, Alison (17 October 1919)
"TS Eliot prize unveils shortlist of 'fearless poets'"
''The Guardian''. He is the second writer of Caribbean heritage to win the prize, the highest value award in UK poetry, after

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

who won the 2010 prize. Robinson's victory was also seen as an important one for small presses. ''A Portable Paradise'' was only the second book of poetry to win the

Ondaatje Prize The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someon ...

in May 2020.

Biography

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 in the 1980s, He initially lived with his grandmother in Ilford, Essex, before moving to

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

, an area of south London that he found more congenial. 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

''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'', 17 August 2009. He was chosen by arts organisation Decibel as one of 50 writers who have influenced black-British writing over the past 50 years. A spoken-word performer in London in the early 1990s, he later performed poetry with bands including

Techno Animal Techno Animal is an electronic duo formed in 1990 in London, England by British musicians Justin Broadrick (of the band Godflesh) and Kevin Martin (aka the Bug, of the band God). The duo released six LPs beginning with their 1991 debut '' Ghost ...

, Flytronix,

The Bug "The Bug" is a song written by Mark Knopfler and originally performed by Dire Straits on the final studio album by the band, '' On Every Street'' (1991). It was covered by Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1992, and also recorded on the albums ''Blues B ...

, Attica Blues and Speeka. Robinson is the lead vocalist for musical crossover project

King Midas Sound Kevin Richard Martin, often known under his recording alias The Bug, is an English musician and music producer. Martin moved from Weymouth to London around 1990 and is now currently based in mainland Europe. He has been active for over two decad ...

, whose critically acclaimed debut album ''Waiting for You'' was released on

Hyperdub __NOTOC__ Hyperdub is a British, London-based electronic music record label and former webzine, founded by Steve Goodman, a.k.a. Kode9. The label was formed in 2004, and grew out of the UK's early dubstep scene. Artists signed to the label hav ...

Records,"Roger Robinson"
Book Slam. becoming number 10 in the top 50 releases of 2009 in ''

Wire Magazine ''The Wire'' (or simply ''Wire'') is a British music magazine publishing out of London, which has been issued monthly in print since 1982. Its website launched in 1997, and an online archive of its entire back catalog became available to subs ...

''. His solo album of spoken folk, ''illclectica'', was named by ''

Mojo Magazine ''Mojo'' is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer. Following the success of the magazine '' Q'', publishers Emap were looking for a title that would cater for the bur ...

'' as "number eight in the top 10 electronic albums for that year. In 2015 he released ''Dis Side Ah Town'', which has been described as "an album that lyrically recalls the most incisive and suggestive lyricists in dub and roots reggae". Robinson's poetry on the page has won a wide range of plaudits. In 1999 he was one of 30 poets chosen for the influential New Generation Poets collection at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Robinson has toured extensively with the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

. His one-man 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 The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a Grade ...

. Robinson's commissions have included work for the

Theatre Royal Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose ...

, the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

London Open House Open House London is an annual festival celebrating the architecture and urban landscape of London. It is staged by the charity Open City which campaigns to make London a more accessible, equitable and open city. During the Open House festival, ...

, the National Portrait Gallery,

LIFT Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

and the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. 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 The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

's ''Can I Have A Word''. In 2010 his poetry 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 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, inaugurated in 2011 by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, is an annual literary award for books by Caribbean writers published in the previous year. Until 2000 Robinson was programme co-ordinator of the performance poetry organisation

Apples and Snakes Apples and Snakes, based at the Albany Theatre in Deptford, south-east London, is an organisation for performance poetry and the spoken word in England. It has been described as the main organisation promoting performance poetry in Britain. S ...

. He is a co-founder of London poetry collective Malika's Poetry Kitchen with fellow poets

Malika Booker Malika Booker (born 1970)"Malika Booker"
at Forward Arts Foundatione. is a British writer, ...

and Jacob-Sam La Rose. Currently run by Jill Abram, the group has fostered some of the UK's most successful poets and is of note for the diversity of its community.

Bibliography

* ''A Portable Paradise'' (poetry), Peepal Tree Press, 2019. . * ''The Butterfly Hotel'' (poetry),

, 2013. * ''Suckle'' (poetry), Waterways Series, 2009. * ''Suitcase'' (poetry),

Flipped Eye Publishing Founded in 2001 by Nii Ayikwei Parkes and J. A. Parkes, flipped eye publishing is a company that publishes original poetry and prose on a not-for-profit model. The not-for-profit approach has allowed flipped eye to focus on new writers with poten ...

, 2005. * ''Adventures in 3D'' (short fiction), Lubin & Kleyner, 2001.

Albums

* ''Dog Heart City'' (Jahtari, 2017) * ''Dis Side Ah Town'' (Jahtari, 2015) * ''illclectica'' (Altered Vibes, 2004)

Awards and recognition

for "A Portable Paradise" (2020) *

(2019)

References

External links

* *

Philip Nanton Philip Nanton (born 1947) is a Vincentian writer, poet and spoken-word performer, based in Barbados. A sociologist by training, who also teaches cultural studies, he is Honorary Research Associate at the University of Birmingham, and lectures at ...

"Homestyle" (review of ''Suckle'')
''Caribbean Review of Books'', September 2010.
"The Butterfly Hotel – video by Roger Robinson".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Roger 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British poets Black British writers British performance artists British spoken word artists Living people People from the London Borough of Hackney T. S. Eliot Prize winners Trinidad and Tobago male writers Trinidad and Tobago poets Year of birth missing (living people)