Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah

Dr Benjamin Zephaniah was born in 1958 and raised in Birmingham. A renowned poet, Zephaniah is seen here at a photo call at The Bookshop on December 10, 2003 in London, England.

Zephaniah’s first real public performance was in church when he was 10-years-old. He left school altogether three years later, dyslexic with limited ability to read and write. Done with mainstream education he went on to pursue the road of ‘Street Politics’.

At the age of 22, Zephaniah’s first book Pen Rhythm was published by Page One Books. The small, east London based publishing co-operative, were keen on publishing poets who were rooted in their communities.

During the early eighties when Punks and Rastas were on the streets protesting about SUS Laws, high unemployment, homelessness and the National Front, Zephaniah’s content could be heard up and down the country, becoming an anthem for the under-represented and marginalised.

Turning the art of reciting Dub (Reggae) Poetry caused a revolution. He feels at home anywhere the oral tradition is still strong and accompanying his primary skillset was an ability to marry it with more book publications, record releases and television appearances. 

Zephaniah is the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley in a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela. His first children's book, Talking Turkeys went into an emergency reprint after six weeks soaring to the top of the children’s book list for months. 

Zephaniah is widely remembered for turning down an OBE, famously writing ‘Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought.’ He added: ‘Benjamin Zephaniah OBE - no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire’.

Zephaniah has sixteen honorary doctorates and the Ealing Hospital in west London has named a wing after him in recognition of his work.