Roger Robinson: ‘Ordinary Poems Won’t Change the World’

Earmarked as ‘the voice of our communal consciousness’ by Edinburgh International Book Festival’s 2018 Guest Selector Afua Hirsch, it’s hard to believe that Roger Robinson hasn’t been a staple of British public life since time immemorial.

A fixture of the UK spoken word scene for many years, Robinson rocketed to national prominence last year when his third poetry collection, A Portable Paradise, bagged the prestigious T S Eliot Prize.

Firmly rooted in the dub poetry tradition of his Trinidadian heritage, Robinson’s plain-speaking, fizzy, often joyous verse journeys through our contemporary preoccupations with a seasoned insight few could replicate. From the ongoing injustices of Grenfell to the pains and pleasures of family life, he unpacks the cosmos of ideas that make up A Portable Paradise with fellow poet Kei Miller, and shares a special animated film exclusively for the occasion.

This is a pre-recorded event.