Desert Island Poems

Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born and raised in Birmingham, England. He said he could not remember a time when he was not creating poetry. Poet, writer, lyricist, musician, he was one of the UK’s most recognised and popular poets. His Desert Island Poems were revealed at the Seren Cardiff Poetry Festival 2021, which took place online due to the pandemic. Benjamin talked about his six choices with renowned Welsh poet Rhian Edwards. Liz Berry, Grace Nichols, Mary Jean Chan and Kid Anansi (Jamal Hassan) read their poems, ‘Men of England’ was read by Rhian Edwards, and there was a performance screened of Benjamin himself reading Dylan Thomas’s ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’.