Zephaniah performed his poetry at different venues around England. In 1980 he published his first book of poetry, called Pen Rhythm. He wrote about the many social problems that people were facing in the early 1980s, such as unemployment and homelessness. His second volume of poetry, The Dread Affair: Collected Poems, attacked the British legal system.
At first Zephaniah wrote poetry for adults, but later he realized that children also understood the issues he wrote about. His first book of children’s poetry was called Talking Turkeys and was published in 1994. Since then he has written much more for children. In 1999 he also started writing novels for teenagers. His first novel, Face, was about racial discrimination. His other novels include Refugee Boy (2001) and Teacher’s Dead (2007).
In addition to his poetry and fiction Zephaniah wrote plays for television, radio, and stage. He also performed in television shows and movies. His autobiography, The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah, was published in 2018. He died on December 7, 2023.
