Benjamin Zephaniah Parents: Meet His Father And Mother

Benjamin Zephaniah Parents – Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah also known as Benjamin Zephaniah was a British writer, dub poet, and actor. In 2008, he was included in The Times’ list of Britain’s top 50 post-war writers. He was born and raised in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England, which he referred to as the “Jamaican capital of Europe”. His father was a postman from Barbados and his mother was a Jamaican nurse.

He attended an approved school but left at the age of 13 unable to read or write due to dyslexia. However, during his childhood, he was given an old manual typewriter, which inspired him to become a writer. This typewriter is now a part of Birmingham Museums Trust’s collection.

Zephaniah’s poetry was heavily influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica, as well as “street politics”. He had his first performance in church when he was 11 years old, and by the age of 15, his poetry was already known among Handsworth’s Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities.

As a young man, Zephaniah spent time in Borstal, received a criminal record, and served a prison sentence for burglary. However, he was tired of being a black poet who only communicated with black people, so he decided to expand his audience and headed to London at the age of 22.

While living in London, Zephaniah experienced racism on a regular basis and was caught up in the 1980s race riots. Benjamin Zephaniah Parents Benjamin Zephaniah Parents Benjamin Zephaniah Parents

Currently, Benjamin Zephaniah is in the headlines because he died on 7 December 2023, at the age of 65, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour eight weeks previously.