Benjamin Zephaniah was born and raised in Birmingham, England in the 1960s, where he was influenced by Jamaican music and poetry from a young age. His poetry focuses on street politics and social issues, with his first performance at age 11 and work known among communities by age 15. Zephaniah's poetry books for both children and teenagers were successful, and he now divides his time between Beijing and Lincolnshire, though he was originally from Birmingham.

1. LIFE AND WORK

2. • Benjamin Zephaniah was born and raised in
the Handsworth district of
Birmingham,England.

3. • Benjaminwas raised in the Sixties, also
labelded the Swinging Sixties, because of the
fall or relaxation of social tabboos especially
relating to racism and sexism that occured
during this time.

4. HIS POETRY
• His poetry is strongly influenced by the music
and poetry of Jamaica and what he calls “
street politics”
• His first performance was in church when he
was eleven, and by the age of fifteen, his
poetrywas already known among
Handsworth´ Afro-Caribbean and Asian
communitiea.

5. MORE OF HIS POETRY…
• Zephaniah´s first book of poetry for children,
called Talking Turkeys, was reprinted after six
weeks.In 1999 he wrote a novel for teenagers,
Face, the firstof tour novels to date.

6. • Zephaniah lived for many years in East London
but in 2008 began dividing his time between
Beijing and a village near Spalding,
Lincolnshire.