The Rhythmic Journey of Roger Robinson
Roger Robinson is a British writer, musician, and performer. His collection “A Portable Paradise” won the prestigious 2021 T. S. Eliot Prize.
Life and Career
Roger Robinson was born in 1967 (age 57 years), in the London Borough of Hackney, London, United Kingdom. He initially lived with his grandmother in Ilford, Essex, before moving to Brixton1.
From the early 1990s, Robinson practiced as a spoken-word performer in London. He has performed with various bands and is the lead vocalist for the musical crossover project King Midas Sound. His solo album of spoken folk, illclectica, was named by Mojo Magazine as of the top 10 electronic albums for that year. Robinson’s commissions have included work for the Theatre Royal Stratford East, the National Trust, the London Open House, the National Portrait Gallery, LIFT, and the Tate. He has published four collections of poetry between 2004 and 2019. His 2013 collection The Butterfly Hotel was one of three poetry titles shortlisted for the 2014 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
He is the commissioning editor of Out-Spoken Press for 2021–221.
He has served as a mentor to many successful writers, including the playwright Inua Ellams and author and broadcaster Johny Pitts.
Award and Legacy
His collection “A Portable Paradise” won the prestigious 2021 T. S. Eliot Prize.
He also won one of eight Windham-Campbell Literature Prizes in 2020.
Robinson’s work continues to inspire readers and writers around the world. His exploration of identity and the immigrant experience in “A Portable Paradise” has been particularly impactful.
He is a longtime performer of dub poetry – a form of spoken word with West Indian roots.
He founded SLAMbassadors, the UK’s national youth slam championships, for The Poetry Society in 2001, and was its artistic director and national coach until 2018.
He co-curates and hosts Out-Spoken, a monthly live poetry and music night currently in long-term residence at London’s Southbank Centre.
His work is not only limited to poetry but also includes public interventions. In 2018, he launched a Twitter appeal for 100 poems protesting about the mistreatment of the Windrush generation. He also recorded an eight-minute music track for BBC Radio 3, Survivor (For the Grenfell Survivors).
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