Benjamin Zephaniah - Poet

In May of 2007 the progressive poet Benjamin Zephaniah visited Perth to perform as part of that year's Perth festival.

"Poet, novelist and playwright Benjamin Zephaniah was born on 15 April 1958. He grew up in Jamaica and the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England, leaving school at 14. He moved to London in 1979 and published his first poetry collection, Pen Rhythm, in 1980. He has been Writer in Residence at the Africa Arts Collective in Liverpool and Creative Artist in Residence at Cambridge University, and was a candidate for the post of Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. He holds an honorary doctorate in Arts and Humanities from the University of North London (1998), was made a Doctor of Letters by the University of Central England (1999), and a Doctor of the University by the University of Staffordshire (2002). In 1998, he was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education to advise on the place of music and art in the National Curriculum and in 1988 Ealing Hospital in London named a ward after him. His second collection of poetry, The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985) contained a number of poems attacking the British legal system. Rasta Time in Palestine (1990), an account of a visit to the Palestinian occupied territories, contained poetry and travelogue. His other poetry collections include two books written for children: Talking Turkeys (1994) and Funky Chickens (1996). He has also written novels for teenagers: Face (1999), described by the author as a story of 'facial discrimination'; Refugee Boy (2001), the story of a young boy, Alem, fleeing the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea; and Gangsta Rap (2004). In addition to his published writing, Benjamin Zephaniah has produced numerous music recordings, including Us and Dem (1990) and Belly of de Beast (1996), and has also appeared as an actor in several television and film productions, including appearing as Moses in the film Farendg (1990). His first television play, Dread Poets Society, was first screened by the BBC in 1991. His play Hurricane Dub was one of the winners of the BBC Young Playwrights Festival Award in 1998, and his stage plays have been performed at the Riverside Studios in London, at the Hay-on-Wye Literature Festival and on television. His radio play Listen to Your Parents, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000, won the Commission for Racial Equality Race in the Media Radio Drama Award and has been adapted for the stage, first performed by Roundabout, Nottingham Playhouse's Theatre in Education Company, in September 2002. Many of the poems in Too Black, Too Strong (2001) were inspired by his tenure as Poet in Residence at the chambers of London barrister Michael Mansfield QC and by his attendance at both the inquiry into the 'Bloody Sunday' shootings and the inquiry into the death of Ricky Reel, an Asian student found dead in the Thames. Two of his most recent books are We Are Britain! (2002), a collection of poems celebrating cultural diversity in Britain, and Chambers Primary Rhyming Dictionary (2004). He has recently been awarded further honorary doctorates by London South Bank University, the University of Exeter and the University of Westminster. Genres (in alphabetical order) Children, Drama, Fiction, Poetry, Screenplay Bibliography Pen Rhythm Page One Books, 1980 The Dread Affair: Collected Poems Arena, 1985 Black Plays : Two (includes 'Job Rocking' by Benjamin Zephaniah) Methuen, 1987 Inna Liverpool Africa Arts Collective, 1988 Rasta Time in Palestine Shakti, 1990 City Psalms Bloodaxe, 1992 Out of the Night: Writings from Death Row (editor with Marie Mulvey Roberts) New Clarion Press, 1994 Talking Turkeys Viking, 1994 Funky Chickens Viking, 1996 Propa Propaganda Bloodaxe, 1996 School's Out: Poems Not for School AK Press, 1997 Face Bloomsbury, 1999 The Bloomsbury Book of Love Poems (editor) Bloomsbury, 1999 A Little Book of Vegan Poems A. K. Press, 2000 Wicked World Puffin, 2000 Refugee Boy Bloomsbury, 2001 Too Black, Too Strong Bloodaxe, 2001 We Are Britain! (with photographs by Prodeepta Das) Frances Lincoln, 2002 Chambers Primary Rhyming Dictionary Chambers, 2004 Prizes and awards 1988 BBC Young Playwrights Festival Award Hurricane Dub 2001 Commission for Racial Equality Race in the Media Radio Drama Award Listen to Your Parents 2002 Portsmouth Book Award (Longer Novel category) Refugee Boy 2005 British Book Awards Decibel Writer of the Year (shortlist) 2006 Manchester Book Award (shortlist) Gangsta Rap Critical Perspective Benjamin Zephaniah's facility with rap and ballad forms has made him one of the most popular poets in the county and his assured performances have made him a TV favorite. His two Bloodaxe collections, City Psalms (1992) and Propa Propaganda (1996) have established his reputation on the page. He ranges easily over domestic and international concerns: 'We have Big Bombs / You have little bombs / You should sign a dotted line / Saying your bombs will stay small'. Zephaniah's great assets are his wide-ranging curiosity and his sense of humour. He likes to parody - 'Terrible World' is a parody of Louis Armstrong's Wonderful World (with a footnote declaring his admiration for the original). 'De Queen and I' puns on the word 'subject': 'Me is de Queen's book at bedtime Her morning service Her vocal muse... One is humble One is honoured One will never object I am so happy Dat she choose me I am de Queen's subject.' In 'I have a Scheme' he gives a twist to Martin Luther King's famous speech: 'Black employers will display notice-boards proclaiming, "me nu care wea yu come from you know So long as you can do a good day's work, dat cool wid me".' In 1999, in an inspired Poetry Placement by the Poetry Society, he spent six months in the chambers of Michael Mansfield QC soon after the Steven Lawrence enquiry had reported. Zephaniah was fascinated and appalled by the way that legal language cuts across our natural ideas of justice, and the poems he wrote then reflect this: 'You have been the victim of an act of depravity And you may never love again, Nevertheless you have only been raped And in the books that I have read Rape does not constitute torture.' The Placement poems appear in his latest collection, Too Black, Too Strong (2001). Unusually for a poetry book it has a substantial opening prose essay by Zephaniah explaining his attitude. Despite the horrors of oppression detailed in much of Zephaniah's work, this introduction and some of the poems are optimistic: he has made good use of the opportunities for travel afforded by his poetic fame but his conclusion is to be reinforced in his love for Britain, and especially London, despite all their flaws. He sees London as potentially a great melting pot: 'I love dis concrete jungle still With all its sirens and its speed The people here united will Create a kind of London breed.' His poetry for children in Talking Turkeys (1994) is exuberant and playful. He likes making lists of favourite things 'Vegan Delight' is a delightful stew of rhyme: 'Ackees, chapatties Dumplins an nan, Channa and rotis Onion uttapam' He has recently written very successful novels for young people. Face (1999) is a story of inner-city youth and of one boy's struggles after his face is badly disfigured in an accident. His novel, Refugee Boy (2001) deals with political asylum."