New Releases by Benjamin Zephaniah

Welcome to the wild and wicked words of Benjamin Zephaniah. You''ll find loads of cool people who make up our world in this rapping, happening hip-hop collection. From the South Pole to Mongolia and the Himalayas, this is a real world tour of poems about people and places, cultures and nationalities across our planet. Includes poems about Inuits, Celts, the history of Britain, Maories, the Dalai Lama, the North and South Poles, and much more - a rhyming round-the-world trip. Poems that bounce up from the page and demand to be read, rapped, sung and hip-hopped aloud - Independent on Sunday

This anthology of poems, selected by novelist Benjamin Zephaniah, is based on the theme of love.

Millions of people know Benjamin Zephaniah''s voice. The popular Rasta poet has given readings around the world, from Palestine to Argentina, as well as throughout Britain - in schools and colleges, youth clubs and prisons, theatres and music venues. Benjamin Zephaniah was born in Birmingham, and grew up in Jamaica and in Handsworth, where he was sent to an approved school for being rebellious and ''a born failure'', ending up in jail for burglary. After prison he turned from crime to music and poetry. In 1989 he was nominated for Oxford Professor of Poetry.

A reissue of TALKING TURKEYS by street poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Talking Turkeys is an unconventional collection of straight-talking poems about heroes, revolutions, racism, love and animal rights, among other subjects, that will entice many new readers to poetry. It is his very first ground-breaking children''s poetry collection - playful, clever and provocative - this is performance poetry on the page at its very best. Benjamin Zephaniah was born in Birmingham and then spent some of his early years in Jamaica. He came to London when he was 22 and his first book of poetry for adults was published soon after. He appears regularly on radio and TV including a Desert Island Discs appearance, literary festivals, and has also taken part in plays and films. He is most well-known for his performance poetry with a political edge for both children and adults and gritty teenage fiction. His collections Talking Turkeys, Wicked World and Funky Chickens broke new ground in children''s poetry. He is the only Rastafarian poet to be short-listed for the Chairs of Poetry for both Oxford and Cambridge University and has been listed in The Times'' list of 50 greatest postwar writers. Benjamin now lives in Lincolnshire.

City Psalms was Benjamin Zephaniah''s first collection from Bloodaxe back in 1992. It includes some of his best-known poems, including ''Dis Poetry'', ''Money'' and ''Us and Dem''. Best known for his performance poetry with a political edge for adults - and his poetry with attitude for children - Zephaniah has his own rap/reggae band. He has produced numerous recordings, including Dub Ranting (1982), Rasta (1983), Us and Dem (1990), Back to Roots (1995), Belly of de Beast (1996) and Naked (2004). He was the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley, in a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela, which Mandela heard while in prison on Robben Island. Their later meetings led to Zephaniah working with children in South African townships and hosting the President''s Two Nations Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1996. Benjamin Zephaniah''s poetry for adults has been brought together in Dis Poetry: Selected Poems & Lyrics (Bloodaxe Books, April 2025). This posthumous retrospective includes all the poems from his three Bloodaxe collections, City Psalms (1992), Propa Propaganda (1996) and Too Black Too Strong (2001), as well as some from The Dread Affair (Arena, 1985), along with previously unpublished work and lyrics from various recordings. A QR code printed in Dis Poetry links to Pamela Robertson-Pearce''s film portrait of Benjamin Zephaniah from the DVD-book To Do Wid Me (Bloodaxe Books, 2013).