Roger Robinson and Malika Booker online at Manchester Literature Festival

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Book now

Roger Robinson hosted by Malika Booker

25 March-1 April 2021

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Poet Roger Robinson.
Poet Roger Robinson.
Book now

TS Eliot Prize-winner Roger Robinson performs poems from his brand-new Manchester Literature Festival commission around Black Lives Matter and chats to Malika Booker, who co-founded international writing collective Malika’s Poetry Kitchen with him in 2001.

Poet Roger Robinson’s commission sees him explore the idea of the Black Lives Matter movement in the context of the British experience and this will be the first time the new work has been performed.

Malika – a lecturer at Manchester Writing School and one of the judges of the Manchester Writing Competition (the poetry prize-winner was just named as James Pollock), and winner of the 2020 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – is appearing at the online StAnza Poetry Festival on Saturday 13 March; more here.

This is the first in a series of new commissions for MLF, supported by an award from the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund and presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester. The next is by Caleb Femi, airing on 8 April. Poet Roger Robinson’s commission sees him explore the idea of the Black Lives Matter movement in the context of the British experience and this will be the first time the new work has been performed.

Raymond Antrobus, appearing at this month’s Litfest beaming out of Lancaster, calls him “one of the most prominent voices in Caribbean-British poetry” and Roger Robinson is a celebrated poet, musician and activist who has performed around the world, touring extensively with the British Council.

His most recent collection, A Portable Paradise, was launched at an event at Tate Modern in 2019 and the Peepal Tree Press-published book was awarded the TS Eliot Prize 2019 at the Southbank Centre in January 2020 plus the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize 2020. A New Statesman book of the year, A Portable Paradise includes poems about the Grenfell disaster, post-Windrush Britain and fatherhood, and has been described, variously, as “heart-wrenching”, “generous” and “fervent”.

His first full poetry collection, The Butterfly Hotel, was published by Peepal Tree Press in 2012 and shortlisted for The OCM Bocas Poetry Prize and The Oxford Brookes Poetry Prize, and was highly commended by the Forward Poetry Prize 2013. He has also published the poetry pamphlets Suitcase and Suckle, the latter winning the People’s Book Prize in 2009, along with a book of short fiction, Adventures in 3D.

An RSL Fellow, he was chosen by Decibel as one of fifty writers to have influenced the black-British writing canon. He is an alumnus of The Complete Works, co-founder of Spoke Lab and lead vocalist for King Midas Sound, and he has been commissioned by the National Trust, London Open House, BBC, the National Portrait Gallery, V&A, INIVA, MK Gallery and Theatre Royal Stratford East, where he also was associate artist.

This online MLF event will be pre-recorded and captioned, and broadcast at 7.30pm on Thursday 25 March. It will then be available to watch for another seven days (until 1 April).

Accessibility

  • Captioned

Where to go near Roger Robinson and Malika Booker online at Manchester Literature Festival

Chinatown
Restaurant
Pho Cue

Family-run Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. Prepare to queue for Pho Cue.

Come to Swithens Farm for a great family day out in Leeds. Our farm has plenty to offer whatever age you are!Swithens Farm is a working farm. For many years now Ian and his wife Angela have built a following that they welcome in all year around. We now have a farm shop, café, playbarn and petting farm. When we first opened we only had the usual farm animals – cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and it was free entry. We now have llamas, alpacas, meerkats, rabbits, guinea pigs, donkeys and a pony.On the working farm, we breed our own cows, pigs and sheep and we sell the meat through the farm shop and the café. If you buy a sausage sandwich from the café the sausage will be from the butcher who has made the sausage by hand using our own pork. We also produce our own free-range eggs.
Leeds
Swithens Farm

Swithens Farm is a working farm. For many years now Ian and his wife Angela have built a following that they welcome in all year around.

Peak District
Restaurant
The Chequers Inn

The Chequers Inn is a 16th century, family-run, traditional country inn with an impressive dining space. The Peak District at its best.

Testbed Main Space
Leeds
Event venue
TESTBED

TESTBED is a newly renovated 10,000 sq foot event venue in Leeds that offers endless possibilities for creating unique and inspiring experiences.

Manchester
Restaurant
Salt & Pepper

Chinese inspired British food in the centre of Manchester, backed up by plenty of well-deserved local hype.

Morning Glory - Coffee Cup
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Morning Glory

Morning Glory positions itself as a grab-and-go spot, with just 12 seats inside serving coffee, bagels and sweet treats.

The Warehouse In Holbeck
Leeds
Event venue
The Warehouse In Holbeck

Run by acclaimed theatre company Slung Low, The Warehouse in Holbeck is home to boundary-pushing performance and community projects.

Leeds
Event venue
The Attic

Tucked away above the bustle of Merrion Street, The Attic is one of Leeds’ most distinctive small venues – intimate, unpretentious, and steeped in DIY spirit.

What's on: Literature

Poet and PBC co-organiser Joey Frances
LiteratureManchester
Peter Barlow’s Cigarette at the Carlton Club

Our favourite “afternoon of alternative poetries” Peter Barlow’s Cigarette is back for the Autumn/Winter season, and it’s bringing a very special bumper four-strong line-up to the Carlton Club.

Free entry
Kieren King compèring Word War Four
LiteratureManchester
SLAMCHESTER at 53Two

This October, Manchester welcomes the return of SLAMCHESTER, a spoken word slam featuring a special performance by Biz Bond.

From £6.00
Deryn Rees-Jones. Credit Alison Dodd Photography
LiteratureLiverpool
Deryn Rees-Jones at Open Eye Gallery

For the seventh Matt Simpson Memorial Reading, hosted by Liverpool Poetry Space (LiPS), Deryn Rees-Jones will be reading from her new collection, Hôtel Amour.

Free entry

Culture Guides

Poet Helen Mort.
Literature Events in the North

One to add to your TBR pile, our latest round-up is a bumper edition and features some amazing events in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and beyond...

A white mattress is burning in a black rocky landscape.
Exhibitions in the North

Galleries in the North are far from spooky this October - instead you'll find tactile sculptures, plant magic and curatorial experiments.

Music in the North

From New York’s experimental underground to the most exciting sounds coming from local scenes, we're lining up a noisy autumn of gigs.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Theatre this month bursts with contrasts - from bold new writing and Black History Month highlights to contemporary arts and reimagined classics.

Cinema in the North

A host of Halloween horrors, experimental shorts, plus pioneering black British cinema make our October Cinema Guide.