Benjamin Zephaniah

About Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah, known as Benjamin Zephaniah, born Benjamin Springer on April 15, 1958, in Handsworth (West Midlands, England) and died on December 7, 2023, was a British Jamaican poet, singer, cleric, and a Rastafarian writer. He was a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times's 2008 list of the 50 greatest post-war British writers. He writes that his poetry is strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he calls street politics. His first performance was in church when he was eleven, and by the age of fifteen, his poetry was already known among Handsworth's Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities. He received a criminal record with the police as a young man and served a prison sentence for burglary. Tired of the limitations of being a black poet communicating with black people only, he decided to expand his audience, and moved to London at the age of twenty-two. He became actively involved in a workers co-operative in Stratford, London, which enabled him to publish his first book of poetry, Pen Rhythm (Page One Books, 1980). The book went through three printings. His aim was to challenge the stale image of poetry conveyed by academia by trying to “bring it everywhere,” especially to people who don't normally read books. He therefore decided to transform the way poetry was consumed by creating concert-style performances. This book was followed by the poetry collections “The Dread Affair: Collected Poems” (1985), “Rasta Time in Palestine” (1990), “Too Black, Too Strong” (2001), and “Gangsta Rap” (nominated for the Manchester Book Award in 2006).
His album Rasta, which features the Wailers' first recording since Bob Marley's death as well as a tribute to Nelson Mandela, brought him international acclaim. Following this album, he was introduced to Nelson Mandela, the future president of South Africa, who was then a political prisoner. In 1996, Mandela asked him to present the Two Nations Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. Benjamin Zephaniah has become too a very popular author of children's poetry with his collection of poems “Talking Turkeys”, which was reprinted after only six weeks from its first publication (1999). Also in 1999, he wrote the novel for teenagers “Face”, which was a considerable success.
He died on December 7, 2023, at the age of 65; he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor just two months earlier.

Browse all poems and texts published on Benjamin Zephaniah