Topic Summaries

• Poet: Roger Robinson (1967-)
• Year: 2019
• Form: Free verse
• Key techniques: Direct address, natural imagery, spiritual metaphor

About the poet

Roger Robinson is a British-Trinidadian writer, poet, and performer, born in Hackney, London, and raised in Trinidad before returning to the UK. His work spans poetry, spoken word, and music, often addressing themes of identity, memory, trauma, and resilience, particularly within Black British and Caribbean diasporic experiences.

Historical context

A Portable Paradise was published in 2019, amid increasing political, racial, and social tensions in the UK. The Windrush Scandal, Brexit, and growing economic inequality contextualise the poem’s call for internal refuge and resilience.

Literary context

The poem reflects a tradition of Black and postcolonial writing that transforms trauma into testimony, echoing histories of migration, colonialism, and resistance. It also gestures to intergenerational wisdom as a form of cultural memory and continuity in times of instability.

Key ideas

• Memory and inheritance
• Inner strength and resilience
• Diasporic identity and belonging
• Survival and refuge
• Intergenerational wisdom
• Power of imagination