Benjamin Zephaniah is a contemporary British writer and dub poet and one of my favourites. He was born and brought up in Birmingham and started creating poems as a child. Although his formal schooling finished when he was 13, he is now among this country’s most esteemed poets and holds an impressive number of honorary doctorates.
I met Benjamin Zephaniah several years ago when I took my son, then a young teenager, to see him perform. My son wasn’t too thrilled when I said we were going to see a poet, but that all changed when he experienced Zephaniah’s performance poetry. (The poem I always use to introduce students to Zephaniah is Talking Turkeys.) After the show, we queued up to get our book signed. While we waited, we heard Benjamin discussing his own poetry and that of other contemporary poets with those before us in the queue. As soon as we arrived, however, he took one look at my son’s Led Zeppelin T shirt and started chatting away about music, in particular Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. What a kind and humble man.
Famous for having refused an OBE, Zephaniah’s poetry can range from heartfelt to angry, in my opinion with every justification. Take, for example, No Problem, addressing racial stereotyping, and What If, a reworking of Rudyard Kipling’s If. He can also sometimes be seen on serious news programmes, discussing racism, refugees and related issues. He also, however, writes delightfully for children. I adore Pencil Me In. The pencil is an extended metaphor for writing, allowing the poet to explore and explain his relationship with his art. And how wonderful is I Love Me Mudder?
There is so much in Zephaniah’s writing to enjoy, to be moved by, and to set you thinking. I believe his voice is incredibly important for our times and for this country, and I would love it if this post encouraged more people to read – or listen to – his poems. If you do prefer to listen, this is ideal with a performance poet like Zephaniah, and you can easily do so by typing his name into the search box in YouTube. Let me know what you think!
