benjamin

BORN :Woolich
BIRTH DATE : 1963
OCCUPATION : Author/ Poet
BEST KNOWN: First novel 'Some Kind of Black'
HONOURS & ACCOLADES: 1996 Winner of the Saga Prize first novel

Poet, novelist and playwright Benjamin Zephaniah was born on 15 April 1958. He grew up in Jamaica and the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England, leaving school at 14. He moved to London in 1979 and published his first poetry collection, Pen Rhythm, in 1980.

He has been Writer in Residence at the Africa Arts Collective in Liverpool and Creative Artist in Residence at Cambridge University, and was a candidate for the post of Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. He holds an honorary doctorate in Arts and Humanities from the University of North London (1998), was made a Doctor of Letters by the University of Central England (1999), and a Doctor of the University by the University of Staffordshire (2002). In 1998, he was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education to advise on the place of music and art in the National Curriculum and in 1988 Ealing Hospital in London named a ward after him.
He has been Writer in Residence at the Africa Arts Collective in Liverpool and Creative Artist in Residence at Cambridge University, and was a candidate for the post of Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. He holds an honorary doctorate in Arts and Humanities from the University of North London (1998), was made a Doctor of Letters by the University of Central England (1999), and a Doctor of the University by the University of Staffordshire (2002). In 1998, he was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education to advise on the place of music and art in the National Curriculum and in 1988 Ealing Hospital in London named a ward after him.

His second collection of poetry, The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985) contained a number of poems attacking the British legal system. Rasta Time in Palestine (1990), an account of a visit to the Palestinian occupied territories, contained poetry and travelogue.

His other poetry collections include two books written for children: Talking Turkeys (1994) and Funky Chickens (1996). He has also written two novels for teenagers, Face (1999), described by the author as a story of 'facial discrimination', and Refugee Boy (2001), the story of a young boy, Alem, fleeing the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

In addition to his published writing, Benjamin Zephaniah has produced numerous music recordings, including Us and Dem (1990) and Belly of de Beast (1996), and has also appeared as an actor in several television and film productions, including appearing as Moses in the film Farendg (1990). His first television play, Dread Poets Society, was first screened by the BBC in 1991. His play Hurricane Dub was one of the winners of the BBC Young Playwrights Festival Award in 1998, and his stage plays have been performed at the Riverside Studios in London, at the Hay-on-Wye Literature Festival and on television. His radio play Listen to Your Parents, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000, won the Commission for Racial Equality Race in the Media Radio Drama Award and has been adapted for the stage, first performed by Roundabout, Nottingham Playhouse's Theatre in Education Company, in September 2002.

Many of the poems in Too Black, Too Strong (2001) were inspired by his tenure as Poet in Residence at the chambers of London barrister Michael Mansfield QC and by his attendance at both the inquiry into the 'Bloody Sunday' shootings and the inquiry into the death of Ricky Reel, an Asian student found dead in the Thames. His most recent book is We Are Britain! (2002), a collection of poems celebrating cultural diversity in Britain.

Benjamin Zephaniah has made headline news recently by refusing to accept an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from the Queen. He said the very title reminds him of thousands of years of brutality and rape of his foremothers and forefathers.The poet also said that when he received a letter from the Prime Minister's office saying Tony blair planned to recommend his name to the Queen, he snubbed the offer in disgust.

Other OBE Snubbers

Dawn French.............comedian wife of Lenny Henry
Jennifer Saunders....comedian duo to Dawn French
Ken Loach..................film director
John Cleese..............comedian-actor best known for Monty Python and Fawlty Towers

Honour For Web Inventor Tim Berners-Lee

The British computer scientist who created the World Wide Web is knighted in the New Year honours list. Tim Berners-Lee developed the hypertext language (HTML), setting up the information superhighway on which documents on different computers are linked.