Poet, writer, lyricist, musician and naughty boy Benjamin Zephaniah will open Lichfield Cathedral’s first ever Poetry festival and competition.
Benjamin is something of a legend in Poetry. He has sixteen honorary doctorates and the Eailing Hospital in west London has named a wing after him in recognition of his work.
Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born and raised in Birmingham and his work is strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he calls ‘street politics’.
As a teenager he developed a strong following in his home town of Handsworth where he had gained a reputation as a young poet who was capable of speaking on local and international issues. In his twenties, and intent on reaching larger audiences, he left his beloved brum for London and exploded on the contemporary British poetry scene.
His mission was to take poetry everywhere and Zephaniah’s poetry could be heard on the demonstrations, at youth gatherings, outside police stations, and on the dance floor. It was once said of him that he was Britain’s most filmed, photographed, and identifiable poet, this was because of his ability to perform on stage, but most of all on television, bringing Dub Poetry straight into British living rooms.
This poetry was political, musical, radical, relevant and on TV.
Since then he has performed on every continent on this planet. As well as Poetry, Benjamin has also written several succesful novels and plays. And periodically he takes to the road with The Benjamin Zephaniah Band.
Then there is Benjamin Zephaniah the children’s poet. His first book of poetry for children called Talking Turkeys had to go into an emergency reprint after just 6 weeks, no one could foresee how popular the book would be, it went to the top of the children’s book list and stayed there for months.
He is as passionate about politics and poetry now as he has ever been and it is a real coup for Lichfield Cathedral to nab him to open their inaugural Poetry Festival.
More about him and his work at benjaminzephaniah.com
The Word Poetry Competition
Lichfield Cathedral are inviting poets of all ages to write new poems inspired by the awe and wonder of the anniversary of the Moon landing and that one small step for humanity, to reflect on the origins of the universe and the vastness of space, light and time, and to explore our fragile earth through the themes of creation and cosmology, space travel and astronomical discovery.
Entry Criteria
Poems submitted should be written on the theme of either ‘Awe and Wonder’ (7–11 and 12–16 age categories) or ‘Light in our Darkness’ (17–25 and 26 and over age categories).
Entries need be as creative as possible when interpreting these themes. The judges will be looking for poems which go beyond simple rhyming couplets and limericks; we are looking for original, contemporary poems. This is an invitation to write in new and exciting poetic forms!
Closing date: Thursday 3 October 2019 at 5pm (National Poetry Day) and more details about the competition and how to enter on the Lichfield Cathedral ‘The Word’ Poetry Competition website here.
