Roger Robinson

Available to watch until 30 April 2021. This event is pre-recorded and captioned.

Read Roger Robinson’s History / The Crowd / Interview / Benin Security Guard at the V&A HERE

One of the most prominent voices in the Black-British writing canon, Roger Robinson is a celebrated poet and musician who has performed around the world. His 2019 poetry collection A Portable Paradise, which included heart-wrenching poems about the Grenfell disaster, being Black British in the UK, and fatherhood, won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize. He has previously created commissioned work for The National Trust, London Open House, BBC, The National Portrait Gallery and Theatre Royal Stratford East where he also was associate artist.

In a new commission written especially for Manchester Literature Festival, Roger will explore the idea of Black Lives Matter and how it pertains the Black British experience. Roger will perform his new poems for the first time, followed by a conversation about his work with poet Malika Booker. This is one of a series of New Commissions supported by an award from the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund and presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.

Tickets for this event are Pay What You Can £6 / £12 / £20.
Free tickets available for those that need them.

Please pay £6 (low income / concession), £12 (standard ticket) or £20 (per household). Any ticket revenue we receive will help Manchester Literature Festival survive this challenging time and deliver our annual Festival in October 2021. However, if you can't afford to buy a ticket please do join us for free.

You can buy Roger's collection A Portable Paradise and other #MLF21 Spring titles directly from our bookshop partner Waterstones HERE.

The Festival will receive a commission on every book sold to help support future programming.