Dr Benjamin Zephaniah
(Born Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah: 15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023)

Benjamin Zephaniah was a British Jamaican poet, writer and musician. He was born and raised in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, which he has called the "Jamaican capital of Europe". He was dyslexic and left full time education at the age of 13.

He writes that his poetry is strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he calls "street politics" and his poetry is characterised by its strong political and social messages. His first performance was in church when he was eleven, and by the age of 15, his poetry was already known among Handsworth's African-Caribbean and Asian communities. While living in London, Zephaniah was caught up in the 1980s race riots and experienced racism on a regular basis. Zephaniah became actively involved in a workers' co-operative in Stratford, London, which led to the publication of his first book of poetry, Pen Rhythm .

His first book of poetry for children, called Talking Turkeys, had to go into an emergency reprint after just six weeks. It went to the top of the children’s book list and stayed there for months. In 1999 he wrote a groundbreaking novel for teenagers called ‘Face.’ It was the first of four novels and proved that teenage boys would read if they have access to books that they can relate to. Young writers have said that the accessibility of his work has inspired them to take up writing. Zephaniah has sixteen honorary doctorates and Ealing Hospital in West London has named a wing after him in recognition of his work.

He was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008.