Benjamin Zephaniah

Writer, dub poet and musician

Close up of the face of a man with dark skin tone Benjamin Zephaniah, by Donald MacLellan, 29 August 1996, NPG x88746, © Donald MacLellan

Collected poems include Pen Rhythm and Too Black, Too Strong; children’s books include We Are Britain.

Dis poetry is like a riddim dat drops
De tongue fires a riddim dat shoots like shots

From ‘Dis Poetry’ in City Psalms (Newcastle: Bloodaxe, 1992)

Dis sweet one music we make
Is for all of us who work dis land
And cannot be contained by bricks and mortar

From ‘Carnival Days’ in Too Black, Too Strong (Newcastle: Bloodaxe, 2001)