Birmingham's Benjamin Zephaniah announces autobiographical theatre tour - with Midlands and Shropshire shows
Internationally renowned poet and musician Benjamin Zephaniah will hit the road next year for his first solo UK tour in eight years.
Professor Zephaniah will be reflecting on his life - a life that includes a close friendship with Nelson Mandela, a musical career that has included collaborations with Sinead O’Conner and The Wailers, and his political campaigning.
The poet is one of Britain’s most popular writers, and is widely acknowledged as the peoples’ laureate.
Of the tour, he said: “I’m looking forward to being back on the road with my new show – The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah.
“I wrote my autobiography gradually, over six years, and wanted it to be a social history of Britain. It charts the struggle for racial equality in Britain, how I connected our struggle to global events, my friendships with the great and the good, and the cool and the bad, and oh yes, my life as a poet.
“I’ll be sharing stories from the book when I’m on the road and look forward to visiting towns and cities across the UK in May and June 2018.
“They say you’re supposed to mellow with age – but I haven’t. If anything, I just seem to be getting more militant.”
Zephaniah was included in The Times list of Britain’s top 50 post-War writers in 2008 and was born and raised in Handsworth, in Birmingham.
By the age of 15, his poetry was popular and he moved to London at 22. His tireless campaigning has seen him share political stages while he is an honorary patron of The Vegan Society and has received numerous honorary doctorates from British universities.
Benjamin Zephaniam will appear at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn on June 14, 2018; and Birmingham Town Hall on June 15, 2018.
For more information and tickets, click here.
