Having moved to London, Zephaniah became actively involved in a workers' co-operative in Stratford, which led to the publication of his first book of poetry, Pen Rhythm (Page One Books, 1980). He had earlier been turned down by other publishers who did not believe there would be an audience for his work, and "they didn't understand it because it was supposed to be performed".[20] Three editions of Pen Rhythm were published. Zephaniah said that his mission was to fight the dead image of poetry in academia, and to "take [it] everywhere" to people who do not read books, so he turned poetry readings into concert-like performances,[14] sometimes with The Benjamin Zephaniah Band.[14][21]
His second collection of poetry, The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985), contained a number of poems attacking the British legal system.[22] Rasta Time in Palestine (1990), an account of a visit to the Palestinian occupied territories, contained poetry and travelogue.[23]
Zephaniah was poet-in-residence at the chambers of Michael Mansfield QC, and sat in on the inquiry into Bloody Sunday and other cases,[24] these experiences led to his Too Black, Too Strong poetry collection (2001).[7] We Are Britain! (2002) is a collection of poems celebrating cultural diversity in Britain.[22]
He published several collections of poems, as well as novels, specifically for young people.[25] Talking Turkeys (1994), his first poetry book for children, was reprinted after six weeks.[26][27] In 1999, he wrote his first novel Face – a story of "facial discrimination", as he described it[25] – which was intended for teenagers, and sold some 66,000 copies.[21][28][29][30] Poet Raymond Antrobus, who was given the novel when he had just started attending a deaf school, has written: "I remember reading the whole thing in one go. I was very self-conscious about wearing hearing aids and I needed stories that humanised disability, as Face did. I was still struggling with my literacy at the time, and I understood Benjamin as someone who was self-taught and had been marginalised within the education system. And so he really felt like an ambassador for young people like me."[31]
Zephaniah's second novel Refugee Boy, about a 14-year-old refugee from Ethiopia and Eritrea,[32] was published in August 2001. It was the recipient of the 2002 Portsmouth Book Award in the Longer Novel category,[25][33] and went on to sell 88,000 copies.[21] In 2013, Refugee Boy was adapted as a play by Zephaniah's long-time friend Lemn Sissay, staged at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.[34][35][36]
In May 2011, Zephaniah accepted a year-long position as poet-in-residence at Keats House in Hampstead, London, his first residency role for more than ten years. In accepting the role, he commented: "I don't do residencies, but Keats is different. He's a one-off, and he has always been one of my favourite poets."[37][38] The same year, he was appointed professor of poetry and creative writing at Brunel University London.[2][39][40]
In 2016, Zephaniah wrote the foreword to Angry White People: Coming Face-to-Face with the British Far Right by Hsiao-Hung Pai.[41]
Zephaniah's frank autobiography, The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah, was published to coincide with his 60th birthday in 2018, when BBC Sounds broadcast him reading his own text. "I'm still as angry as I was in my twenties," he said.[42][43] The book was nominated as "autobiography of the year" at the National Book Awards.[4]
The Birmingham Mail dubbed him "The people's laureate".[44]
On the publication of his young adult novel Windrush Child in 2020, Zephaniah was outspoken about the importance of the way history is represented in the curriculum of schools.[45][46]
