Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Zephaniah at the University of Hull on January 29, 2010.

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born April 15, 1968) is a British-born poet, novelist and playwright whose parents were immigrants from Barbados and Jamaica. He is best known for his book for teenagers Gangsta Rap.

Zepheniah is dyslexic and left school at the age of thirteen, unable to read or write. He learnt to read and write as an adult, after he had already been hailed as an exciting young "writer" for his performance poetry.

Benjamin Zephaniah is also a recording artist and an actor. He has recorded seven albums, four singles and EPs and appeared as a guest artist on recordings by other musicians. He has appeared in films, television and radio productions. His best known acting role is as the recurring character Jeremiah Jesus in the British TV series Peaky Blinders, a role which Zephaniah has been playing since 2013.

Works

Poetry anthologies

• Pen Rhythm (1980)
• The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985)
• City Psalms (1992)
• inna Liverpool (1992)
• Talking Turkeys (1992)
• Propa Propaganda (1996)
• Funky Chickens (1997)
• School's Out: Poems Not for School (1997)
• Wicked World (2000)
• Too Black, Too Strong (2001)
• The Little Book of Vegan Poems (2001)

Novels

• Face (1999)
• Refugee Boy (2001)
• Gangsta Rap (2004)
• Teacher's Dead (2007)
• Terror Kid (2014)

Children's books

Benjamin Zephaniah in 2018.

• We are Britain (2003)
• Primary Rhyming Dictionary (2004)
• J is for Jamaica (2008)
• My Story (2011)
• When I Grow Up (2011)

Plays

• Playing the Right Tune (1985)
• Job Rocking (1987)
• Delirium (1987)
• Streetwise (1990)
• Mickey Tekka (1991)
• Listen to Your Parents (2003)

Other

• Kung Fu Trip (2011)
• The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah (2011)

External links

• Benjamin Zephaniah's official website.
• Quotations from Benjamin Zephaniah on Wikiquote.
• Benjamin Zephaniah on the Internet Movie Database.