Benjamin Zephaniah: My six best books
BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH, 55, is a musician, poet and writer who appeared recently in the TV series Peaky Blinders. He presents Caribbean Domino Club on BBC Radio 4 on April 18 at 11am and Ugly Lovely Swansea: A Poet On The Estate on BBC One Wales later this month.
A BOOK OF NONSENSE
by Mervyn Peake
Out of print
The first book I read from cover to cover. It is absolute nonsense but I was fascinated with the rhymes. When I started I was doing fun poetry to impress girls, then it got really serious. Reading this I realised there’s nothing wrong with writing nonsense sometimes.
PRISONOMICS
by Vicky Pryce
Biteback, £14.99 (RRP £16.99)
It was about time somebody wrote this book, about the economics of keeping women in jail. It’s a mixture of her experience and her research. I’ve met women who are in prison for not paying their council tax and they shouldn’t be there.
RED SHELLEY
by Paul Foot
Bookmarks, £10
I found this on a shelf at a friend’s house and had to admit my dismissal of “dead white male poets” was too broad. Some were good and Shelley’s Song To The Men Of England is still relevant.
POEMS THAT MAKE GROWN MEN CRY
edited by Anthony & Ben Holden
Simon & Schuster, £14.99 (RRP £16.99)
This is an anthology where men, including Melvyn Bragg and Colin Firth (and me!), talk about poems that have moved them to tears. As I’m getting older I cry more and it’s interesting to hear men talk about emotional things.
HOWL AND OTHER POEMS
by Allen Ginsberg
City Lights, £5.99
This is really powerful. When I did my first gig with Ginsberg I didn’t know who he was but I started to learn how important he was to the Beat generation. Every now and again, people such as Ginsberg come along to shake up poetry.
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
by Maya Angelou
Virago, £8.49 (RRP £8.99)
A very important book to understand her poetry and what it was like for black women in the American South. When you meet her you see that she is tough and when you read the book you realise why. So many bad things have happened to her but it’s beautifully poetic and honest.