One writer was so impressed to see his poem displayed on London tube carriages that he encouraged budding poets. “not try and fit in with everyone else”But to bring “who you are”Send it to the field.
TfL has teamed with Arts Council England, The British Council, and TfL to promote Black poetry through the Poems on the Underground series. It features Nobel Prize winners as well poet laureates and performers.
All poems are included in a leaflet which can be downloaded from TfL’s website. In fact, one contributor had his poem featured on London tube stations in August 2020.
Writer and poet Roger Robinson, who lives in the East Midlands, told the PA news agency that his poem – “And if I speak of Paradise”, which comes from his book A Portable Paradise – drew inspiration from what was happening in the UK at the time, including “Covid, nurses, people under pressure, immigrants”.
Roger Robinson’s poem (Poems on the Underground)
He stated that he wanted the poem to be a “multiplicity of readings”.
“Lots of people say, you’re talking about a Bible, you’re talking about a Koran, you’re talking about a diary, you’re talking about my grandmother”The 55-year old said.
“There are lots of little hooks where people can insert themselves into it and it can morph and become separate things – you’re talking about Covid, you’re talking about nurses, you’re talking about police abuse, you’re talking about women.
“It was a way of opening up and it was a lesson for me – to sometimes not be too prescriptive and just let it be.”
Roger Robinson (Nicola Griffiths).
He also said that he discovered his poem at the top TfL tube carriage when he was first discovering it. “I was like wow, OK.
“It was a complete surprise to me – people were texting me saying that saw it on the underground and I was like, ‘What?’, he said.
“But it’s a good thing, so I can’t complain.”
The award-winning writer who won the prestigious TS Eliot Prize 2019 for A Portable Paradise said that despite not considering poetry as a career, he loved writing and was always willing to learn new things. “able to make connections with people through writing”.
“And certain people kept on encouraging me – one of them was Bernardine Evaristo, the Booker Prize winner.
“More than 26 years ago, she ran something called ‘Spread the Word’ and she used to let me do the workshops for free because she thought I was talented, and we have been friends ever since.”
He said that he is “happy that there’s a lot of young black people getting into poetry because I’m getting some accolades and because I look a particular way”.
“I might look like their uncle, or I might look like their dad or grandfather.”
He suggested that poets aspirants should “write the poem that only you can write”.
Everything else has been done before. The only thing that’s new is you and the way you use it.
Roger Robinson
“Everything else in the world has already been done. The only thing new is who you are and how you can utilise it.
“But don’t try and fit in with what everybody else writes – do it like you do it, but also read a lot to find out how to turn your stories into a craft.
“And don’t just read things linked to your culture, read outside your culture – read Japanese poets, German poets and pick up the craft of it and bring it to your stories and culture.”
Sinead Russell is the director of literature at The British Council. “Since 1986, we have been supporting Poems on the Underground to celebrate great poetry and offer readers an opportunity to pause and reflect on how we understand each other in an ever-changing world.
“We are delighted to support this powerful collection of poems by Black poets to celebrate Black History Month. We believe it is ever more important to spotlight these poets to help their work reach an even wider audience.”
The poems for tube display were selected by Poems on the Underground, and Mr Robinson’s poem continues to be available in its poster form on the Poems on the Underground website, as well as the Black History Month leaflet: https://poemsontheunderground.org/