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8 unusual facts about Benjamin Zephaniah


Bimal Guha

British poet Benjamin Zephaniah has remarked in an interview- ‘Bimal’s poetry is so conversational, and he is also very passionate about the poetry of Bangladesh’.

Birmingham History Galleries

For instance, local poet, Benjamin Zephaniah’s typewriter can be seen in the gallery alongside an oral history in which he talks about growing up and living in Birmingham and how this influenced his career.

Dub poetry

Linton Kwesi Johnson (LKJ)'s album Dread Beat an' Blood first appeared in 1978, then Oku Onuora's Reflection In Red in 1979, followed by Benjamin Zephaniah's Rasta, and many others in the early 1980s onwards.

Joy Gardner

The poet Benjamin Zephaniah wrote The Death of Joy Gardner about the incident.

Mzwakhe Mbuli

In 1996 Mbuli was invited to London to co-host, with British poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah, the Two Nations Concert at the Albert Hall to honor President Nelson Mandela on his visit to London .

Poetry Live

The next step was to offer days with poets such as Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott, James Fenton, Tony Harrison, U A Fanthorpe, Benjamin Zephaniah, Simon Armitage, Glyn Maxwell, Gillian Clarke, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Carol Ann Duffy, Liz Lochhead and Andrew Motion.

So Far... The Best of Sinéad O'Connor

# "Empire" (Bomb the Bass featuring Benjamin Zephaniah and Sinéad O'Connor) (Simeon/O'Connor/Zephaniah)

# "Empire" (Bomb the Bass featuring Benjamin Zephaniah and Sinéad O'Connor) (Simeon/O'Connor/Zephaniah)


Liverpool poets

The Liverpool poets paved the way for a subsequent flourishing of performance and pop-based work by poets such as John Cooper Clarke, Attila the Stockbroker, John Hegley and Benjamin Zephaniah.

St. Ann's Well, Malvern

It was signed by 4,500 people, including the actor Martin Shaw, poet Benjamin Zephaniah and Mary McCartney.

Tamarind Books

Tamarind also specialises in biographies of black role models, in the Black Stars series, which includes biographies of Malorie Blackman, Benjamin Zephaniah, Rudolph Walker, Baroness Scotland, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy and David Grant.


see also

Danny Bernardi

Bernardi has cited his main influences on his writing as being the Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz, playwrights such as Stephen Berkoff and Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) as well as such diverse sources such as The Clash, Billy Childish, Benjamin Zephaniah.