Zephaniah, Benjamin (1958-2023), a British poet, playwright, recording artist, and broadcaster, became known for his distinctive style of performance poetry. He originally developed a strong following among Afro-Caribbeans in the United Kingdom, but over the years he widened his appeal to become well known within the British literary and artistic mainstream.
Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born on April 15, 1958, to West Indian parents in Birmingham, England. He spent part of his childhood in Jamaica, where the island’s culture profoundly influenced his later development as a creative artist.
Zephaniah moved to London in 1980 and began his career as a writer. His first poetry collection, Pen Rhythm (1980), helped make his name in London’s West Indian and Asian communities. His work was featured in television documentaries in the early 1980’s. Additional collections of poetry extended his reputation. They included The Dread Affair (1985), Inna Liverpool (1988), City Psalms (1992), and Too Black, Too Strong (2001).
In 1988, Zephaniah spent a year as writer-in-residence in the English city of Liverpool, working with the Africa Arts Collective. In 1987, he appeared with the English comedian and writer Alexei Sayle in such films as the comedy Didn’t You Kill My Brother? (1988) and Farendj (1990), which was made on location in Ethiopia. Zephaniah’s plays include Hurricane Dub (1988), written for radio; Dread Poets Society (1994), written for television; and the stage plays Playing the Right Tune (1985), Job Rocking (1987), Streetwise and Delirium (both 1990), and Mickey Tekka (1991). Zephaniah had a recurring role in the British television series “Peaky Blinders” (2013-2022).
Zephaniah’s artistic and recording work strongly reflected his interest in politics, and his concern for people, especially young people and prisoners. His recordings include Dub Ranting (1982), Rasta (1983), Big Boys Don’t Make Girls Cry (1984), Free South Africa (1986), Us an Dem (1990), Crisis (1992), Back to Roots (1995), Illegal (2000), and Naked (2005).
Zephaniah’s writing for young readers includes the poetry collections Talking Turkeys (1994), Funky Chickens and Propa Propaganda (both 1996), School’s Out (1997), Wicked World! (2000), and The Little Book of Vegan Poems (2002); the novels Face (1999), Refugee Boy (2001), Gangsta Rap (2004), Teacher’s Dead (2007), and Terror Kid (2014); the nonfiction books We Are Britain! (2002), J Is for Jamaica (2006), Kung Fu Trip and When I Grow Up (both 2011); and the picture book We Sang Across the Sea: The Empire Windrush and Me (2022, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu), based on the life of the Trinidad and Tobago-born singer Mona Baptiste. Zephaniah’s autobiography, The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah, was published in 2018. He died on Dec. 7, 2023.
