Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-2023) was a writer and performer of extraordinary range: an oral poet, novelist, playwright, children's writer, reggae artist, actor, television personality and political activist. Born in Birmingham, England, he grew up in Handsworth, where he was sent to an approved school for being uncontrollable, rebellious and 'a born failure', ending up in jail for burglary and affray. After prison he turned from crime to music and poetry. In 1989 he was nominated for Oxford Professor of Poetry, and received honorary doctorates from several English universities, but famously refused to accept a nomination for an OBE in 2003. He appeared in a number of television programmes, including the hit series Peaky Blinders. He was voted Britain's third favourite poet of all time (after T.S. Eliot and John Donne) in a BBC poll in 2009.