BREAKING GROUND
CELEBRATING BRITISH WRITERS OF COLOUR
H Vidyan Ravinthiran
H Maureen Roberts
Born in Leeds to Sri Lankan parents, Vidyan
Maureen Roberts is a published author and teacher
Ravinthiran is a Lecturer at Durham University.
with an MA in creative writing (Goldsmiths,
He was awarded a DPhil for his thesis on
University of London) and an MA in Education/
Elizabeth Bishop from Oxford in 2010 and
Language Arts (Western Carolina University).
was poetry editor of the Oxonian Review. He
She is widely anthologised, with poems on the
reviews frequently for publications including
Caribbean O level exam syllabus. She is currently
Poetry Review, The Times Literary Supplement, PN Review and others and is
Senior Development Officer at London Metropolitan Archives. She was Manager of
currently working on a novel, as well as a book about Elizabeth Bishop. His
Keats House Museum, initiating and curating the Keats Festival (2010-13). Maureen
pamphlet, At Home or Nowhere, was published in 2008 by Tall-Lighthouse.
has taught creative writing at University of Luton and Mary Ward Centre and was
His first book-length collection, Grun-tu-molani (Bloodaxe Books, 2014), was
an Administrator and Lecturer for the University of Wisconsin Multi-Cultural Britain
shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the Seamus Heaney
Programme. She has also been Curator of the Ithaca College Martin Luther King
Centre Poetry Prize and the 2015 Michael Murphy Memorial Prize.
Scholars London Programme. In 2012 She was the poet for Grenada at London
www.dur.ac.uk/english.studies/academicstaff/?id=12999
Southbank Centre’s Poetry Parnassus, part of the Cultural Olympiad.
www.creativeislington.com/blog/directory/maureen_roberts/
H Akila Richards
H Roger Robinson
Akila Richards is a writer and spoken word
Roger Robinson was born in Trinidad and
artist. Some of her writing gives voice to the
has lived in the UK for over 20 years. Decibel
Black German experience. Her collaborations
named him as one of 50 writers influencing the
include film, digital, theatre and visual art. Her
Black British writing canon. His commissions
latest spoken word performance and visual
include The National Trust, The National
exhibition took place in 2016 as part of the
Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert
Fabrica cultural programme. Akila’s first short story ‘Eleven Years’ appeared in
Museum. Roger’s books include the fiction Adventures in 3D and poetry
a 2008 Penguin anthology of mixed race stories. Her poem ‘Red Saviour’ was
collections Suitcase, Suckle – Winner of the Peoples Book Prize – and The
in Red: Contemporary Black British Poetry (Peepal Tree Press, 2010). Her work
Butterfly Hotel, from which the poem ‘Trinidad Gothic’ was Highly Commended
with diverse women writers resulted in an anthology, Ink On My Lips (Waterloo
by the Forward Prize and shortlisted for the OCM Bocas Poetry Prize. He is a
Press, 2013). Most recently she contributed to Closure: Contemporary Black
co-founder of Spoke Lab and the writing collective Malika’s Kitchen. He released
British Short Stories (Peepal Tree Press, 2015) and received an award for her
a solo album, Illclectica, and is lead vocalist for King Midas Sound, whose debut
poem, ‘Stifled Life’.
album, Waiting for You (Hyperdub Records), was critically acclaimed.
www.akilarichards.com/ Twitter @akilalive
www.rogerrobinsononline.com/ Twitter @rrobinson72
46