Dub Poet Roger Robinson Wins T. S. Eliot Prize

British-Trinidadian dub poet Roger Robinson has won the T. S. Eliot Prize for his collection, A Portable Paradise (Peepal Tree Press, 2019), reports The Guardian. "Tackling racism, violence and the Grenfell Tower fire, as well as moments of joy and beauty, the collection is built on observations of ordinary daily life," writes Sian Cain. More:

The poet John Burnside, chair of the judges, praised A Portable Paradise for “finding in the bitterness of everyday experience continuing evidence of ‘sweet, sweet life’.”

He said the judges had made passionate cases for various books for months, but Robinson was the unanimous choice in their final meeting on Monday.

“It came down to how moving the personal poems were and how relatable and accessible his poetry about his family was, alongside the more political parts about black history, Grenfell and the NHS. There is a wonderful balance of the public and the personal in this collection. It is passionate and sociologically engaged, without being rigorous about it – there was a strong sense of humanity to the book,” he said. “Poets have always written about injustices like racism and misogyny because poetry is a great medium for that as it engages all of our faculties, our abilities as humans, our empathies. When people are overtaken about rationality, they forget humanity and pity. Poetry reminds us of those traits again.”

Congrats to Robinson! Find a poem from the book, and the full report, at The Guardian.