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Benjamin Zephaniah was born in 1958 in Jamaica, moving to Handsworth, Birmingham at the age of two, a son of Caribbean migrants. His first book of poems was published in 1980 and titled ‘Pen Rhythms’, while his most recent collection ‘Too Black, Too Strong’ was published in 2001. He is best known as a poet – it was thought by some that he should be ‘Poet Laureate’ after the death of Ted Hughes – but Zephaniah has also written novels, plays and prose, has made records and spoken word cassettes, has appeared on television and radio and acted. He is a community activist who addresses political issues and has a powerful commitment to social justice.

Benjamin Zephaniah has argued that he would call himself an oral poet, if he was forced to choose.

“I say this because as I write my poetry, I can hear the sound of it.
The oral tradition is timeless, it is simply the tradition of passing on information orally and much of this information is handed down in the form of poems, songs and stories. People in the Western world tend to see the oral tradition as something from the past…but elsewhere the tradition carries on regardless. The oral tradition thrives when there are restrictions on people’s abilities to speak or when they have no access to the media.

If you can see poetry as a tree with many branches and oral poetry as one of those branches, then a leaf on that branch could be Dub Poetry. Dub poetry has its roots in Jamaica and is closely linked with Reggae music…Dub poetry is political, no one made this rule, that’s just the way it is and poets like myself, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jean Breeze, Oku Onuora and Lillian Allen all worked in community groups which gave us our first audiences.

The oral poet’s relationship with the audience is the most important. She or he has to read the audience and be able to deliver the message. We oral poets do get published now but knowing that reading is a minority pastime, it would be fair to say that the publishing of books is way down on our list of priorities.

It must be said that oral poetry has a much longer history (than poetry written strictly for the page) and has closer links with the masses than much of the poetry that is published by the multinationals.”

The political issues Zephaniah writes about are wide-ranging. He is a Vegan; he writes about racism, bullying, war, refugees, and injustice. He writes to entertain and inform and to “help give a voice and inspire people to make their own poetry”. He is deeply involved with the bookshop run by the Newham Parent Centre in London, engaging directly with community politics. His novel ‘Refugee Boy’ was based on the real story of a boy he came to know in Newham.

Recently, Benjamin Zephaniah was poet-in-residence at Tooks Barristers Chambers in London (a residency sponsored by the Poetry Society). This involved “following them to court, questioning them, and loitering with intent”. From this experience, Zephaniah has created a major collection of poems containing reflections on the criminal justice system in the UK. ‘Too Black,Too Strong’ is published by Bloodaxe Books. The introduction to this book of poems is a powerful statement of Zephaniah’s political position and his understanding of the meaning of being a ‘Black Brit’ today.


Teachers Notes on Resources

Benjamin Zephaniah has an extensive list of publications and recordings. His poetry for children and teenagers includes:
Talking Turkeys (Puffin/Penguin, 1994)
Funky Chickens (Puffin/Penguin, 1996)
Wicked World (Puffin/Penguin, 2001)

Funky Turkeys (ABM, 1999) and Wicked World (Puffin/Penguin, 2001) are spoken word recordings of his poetry from these books.
He has a poetry compilation for children called: We Are Britain (Franklin, 2002). This compilation includes profiles of children from across Britain from many different backgrounds.

Children should be encouraged to use his website
http://www.benjaminzephaniah.com
There are sections called kidz and teenz, and articles about him can be downloaded from the section called media. Of these, the most accessible for children is the article from Puffin Post. The section truth contains the original, longer version of Zephaniah’s thoughts on oral and other forms of poetry.

There is an interview with him on the website
http://www.mystworld.com

Recent newspaper features that have been used to provide background material for this biography are:
Melissa Katsoulis, “Saved by a will to create”, The Times, 31.10.01
Kate Kellaway, “Dread Poet’s Society”, The Observer, 4.11.01

Teachers should be aware of his poetry for adults. ‘Too Black, Too Strong’, Bloodaxe Books, 2001, is strongly recommended both because it shows the strength of his political convictions and for the very powerful introductory statement. There is no biography of Zephaniah geared towards adults.

Teaching Ideas:

Biography: Verna Wilkins, BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH, POET, Tamarind, 1999

Verna Wilkins’ biography of Zephaniah has been written for children aged 9-12. It is one of her Black Profiles series, based on a series of in-depth interviews and illustrated with line drawings. There are fourteen brief chapters that focus mainly on Zephaniah’s early life.

This book is designed to be inspirational: to show that early adversity and racism have not crushed the spirit and achievement of a remarkable man of Caribbean heritage in Britain. Study of this book therefore offers the opportunity to discuss the author’s point of view and interpretation.

In common with the other books in this series, the style is mostly a third person account of significant events or moments in Ben Zephaniah’s life. As noted, it focuses very largely on his childhood and adolescence, with little information on recent achievements or his life as an adult. The author does take particular moments and slightly dramatize them. This includes imagined conversations, with some dialect, offering opportunities to examine spoken language forms and punctuation. It would be advisable for teachers to use examples of Zephaniah’s poetry to supplement this biography, and especially to allow a more rich exploration of Caribbean English.

Chapters 1-5 focus on Zephaniah’s early childhood, describing an environment marked by poverty and racism, the difficulties between his parents and their separation, with Benjamin leaving the family home to be with his mother. Frequently moving around, he had little chance to settle in school and became increasingly isolated.

Possible teaching points:
Chapters 1 & 2 Why did the hooligan smash a brick into BZ’s face? Note the last paragraphs of both chapters. Discuss the author’s implicit point of view (this was a racist attack).
Examine the author’s construction of the setting where BZ lived. List the vocabulary, particularly adjectives, that suggest somewhere poor and ugly (narrow, flat-faced, weary, etc)
Chapters 3-5 Discuss the features in BZ’s life (eg. family and housing problems, racism, moving schools a lot) that led to his loneliness and failure at school .
Remind children of written conventions in a biography – 3rd person, past tense. Point out the author’s use of passages of direct speech. Note use of speech marks and 1st person by author to reconstruct imagined conversations - Why does the author do this?

Chapters 6-9 describe how Zephaniah got involved in petty crime, was sent to an approved school, and found a captive audience for his early poems.
Chapter 9 describes his stay with his grandmother in Jamaica.


Possible teaching points:
Note and list the difference in BZ’s feelings about England and Jamaica. Why does he feel so much more comfortable and happy in Jamaica? Use the list to write in role: an autobiographical report by BZ about his time in Jamaica.
Note use of slang/colloquial language in the direct speech in these pages and in the narrative text – collect examples. Why does the author use this kind of language here?

Chapters 10-11 focus on his return to England, the beginnings of performing poetry in church, being in trouble with the police and spending time in prison. It is said that Zephaniah decided while in prison that he had to learn to read and write to allow himself the chance to avoid going back inside.
Chapters 12-14 describe his efforts to find a new beginning: learning to read and write, performing, becoming widely-known as a poet, and concluding with his proudest moment – shaking the hand of Nelson Mandela.

Possible teaching points:
Make a list of the things that helped BZ to overcome early problems (eg. His mother’s support, the church, his own determination to conquer his reading difficulties, his natural gift for poetry). Include these factors in a piece of autobiographical writing.