Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Zephaniah
File:Benjamin Zephaniah.jpg
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	British
Genre	Poetry, Teen fiction
Literary movement	Rastafari movement
Website
http://www.benjaminzephaniah.com

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958, Coleshill, Birmingham, England) is a British Rastafarian writer and dub poet. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008.

Zephaniah has said that his mission is to fight the dead image of poetry in academia, and to "take [it] everywhere" to people who do not read books.

Early life

Zephaniah was raised in Jamaica and the Handsworth district of Birmingham, which he called the "Jamaican capital of Europe."

He writes that he had left full-time education by the time he was thirteen, and that his poetry emerged from the rhythms of Jamaica and "street politics." His first performance was in church when he was ten, and by the age of fifteen, his poetry was already known among Handworth's Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities. Tired of preaching only to black people about their own lives, he decided to expand his audience, and headed to London at the age of twenty-two.

Publications

Zephaniah published his first book of poems, Pen Rhythm, in 1980. It was so well received that three editions were published. His album Rasta, which featured The Wailers' first recording since the death of Bob Marley as well as a tribute to Nelson Mandela, gained him international prestige and topped the Yugoslavian pop charts. It was because of this recording that he was introduced to the political prisoner and soon-to-be South African president, and in 1996, Mandela requested that Zephaniah host the president's Two Nations Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Positions

Rejection of OBE

In November 2003, Zephaniah wrote in The Guardian that he had turned down an OBE from the Queen because it reminded him of "how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised."

Charitable work

He is an honorary patron of The Vegan Society, the anti-racist organisation Newham Monitoring Project, and Tower Hamlets Summer University.

Anti-establishment

Zephaniah is openly against the British government and monarchy, having been quoted as saying that he would like to "overthrow the government" and "smash down the Houses of Parliament".

Animal rights

Zephaniah is an animal rights advocate, and in 2007 he wrote the foreword to Keith Mann's book From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement, a book about the Animal Liberation Front. In August 2007, he announced that he would be launching the Animal Liberation Project, alongside People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Personal life and achievements

Collecting the Hancock at Cambridge Folk Festival 2008 with Martin Carthy looking on.

Zephaniah currently lives in East London, and is a self-described passionate vegan. He is also a fan of Aston Villa Football Club.

He has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of North London (in 1998), the University of Central England (in 1999), Staffordshire University (in 2002), London South Bank University (in 2003), the University of Exeter and the University of Westminster (in 2006). On July 17, 2008 Zephaniah received an honorary doctorate from the University of Birmingham. He was listed at 48 in The Times' list of 50 greatest postwar writers.

He was awarded Best Original Song in the Hancocks 2008, Talkawhile Awards for Folk Music (as voted by members of Talkawhile.co.uk [1]) for his version of Tam Lyn Retold recorded with The Imagined Village. He collected the Award live at The Cambridge Folk Festival on Saturday 2 August 2008 and described himself as a "Rasta Folkie".

External links

• Official site
• Rasta poet rejects honour from Queen, by Jane Wardell, Associated Press. Published by the Toronto Star on 27 November 2003.
• Rasta poet publicly rejects his OBE by Merope Mills, published by The Guardian on 27 November 2003.
• Benjamin Zephaniah — from The Black Presence in Britain

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