Benjamin Zephaniah, one of Britain's best known and cherished poets, has sadly passed away at the age of 65. He was one of The Poetry Society's Vice Presidents.
Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born in 1958 in Birmingham and first performed poetry in a church at the age of 10. He was often classified as a dub poet, strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he called street politics.
Since his debut collection Pen Rhythm in 1980 he published many collections of poetry including The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985) Talking Turkeys (1994) and Too Black, Too Strong (2001). He was honorary patron of the Vegan Society and produced the Little Book of Vegan Poems in 2001.
In 2014, Zephaniah worked on a resource for The Poetry Society as part of its 'Page Fright' series, which records spoken word artists performing their own work alongside performances of canonical page poetry. Zephaniah's resource focused on Dylan Thomas's 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'.
Roger McGough, Poetry Society President, said: "Benjamin Zephaniah had this appeal right across the board – with children, with adults – everyone. He had such a presence – and that voice was amazing. He was unique. He showed that poetry could be a gift for everybody."
Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born in 1958 in Birmingham and first performed poetry in a church at the age of 10. He was often classified as a dub poet, strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he called street politics.
He was also a musician himself, and with the album Rasta in 1982 was the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley in a tribute to Nelson Mandela.
Since his debut collection Pen Rhythm in 1980 he published many collections of poetry including The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985) Talking Turkeys (1994) and Too Black, Too Strong (2001). He was honorary patron of the Vegan Society and produced the Little Book of Vegan Poems in 2001.
He was also the author of five novels published by Bloomsbury. His autobiography, The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah, was released to coincide with his 60th birthday.
He also published children's books, plays and a biography of the Trinidad and Tobago born singer Mona Baptiste, We Sang Across the Sea: The Empire Windrush and Me (2022). Though he had many books published, he always believed strongly in the oral tradition and championed all the voices of a multicultural society to be heard.
The Birmingham Mail previously dubbed him "The people's laureate".
In 2014, Zephaniah worked on a resource for The Poetry Society as part of its 'Page Fright' series, which records spoken word artists performing their own work alongside performances of canonical page poetry. Zephaniah's resource focused on Dylan Thomas's 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'.
In an interview accompanying the resource Zephaniah said: "For me writing poetry down a lot of the time is a bit of a compromise. I know I'm going to lose a bit of it. It's a bit like going from real, true analog to digital. I know I'm going to lose some quality."
Roger McGough, Poetry Society President, said: "Benjamin Zephaniah had this appeal right across the board – with children, with adults – everyone. He had such a presence – and that voice was amazing. He was unique. He showed that poetry could be a gift for everybody."
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