As part of Hay Festival Digital (#ImagineTheWorld), Peter Frankopan, chair of judges for the 2020 RSL Ondaatje Prize, was in conversation with prize winner Roger Robinson

As part of Hay Festival Digital (#ImagineTheWorld), Peter Frankopan, chair of judges for the 2020 RSL Ondaatje Prize, was in conversation with 2020 winner Roger Robinson, who won with his collection A Portable Paradise. They discussed Roger’s writing method, the political nature of his work, and the wider impact of poetry. Their conversation is available on the Hay Player (£10 to access), and we summarised their discussion on Twitter.

On winning the RSL Ondaatje Prize, Roger said: ‘Winning the RSL Ondaatje Prize is great on many levels. Gaining wider recognition for the political issues that are raised in A Portable Paradise is one of the most important things for me, alongside  ore people reading about the struggles of black communities in Britain which hopefully creates some deeper resonating empathy.’

The annual award of £10,000 is for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place.

Recorded on: May 28, 2020
Recorded at: Hay Festival Digital