Benjamin Zephaniah

Bejamin Zephaniah is one of Britain's most popular poets. In his first new book of poems for five years, he addresses the problems of black Britain more forcefully than in previous books.

In the early 1980s when punks and Rastas were on the streets protesting about unemployment, homelessness and the National Front, Benjamin?s poetry could be heard at demonstrations, outside police stations and on the dance floor. His mission was to take poetry everywhere, and to popularise it by reaching people who didn?t read books. His poetry was political, musical, radical and relevant.� By the early 1990s, Benjamin had performed on every continent...

Born in 1958 in Birmingham, he grew up in Jamaica and in Handsworth, where he was sent to an approved school for being uncontrollable, rebellious and 'a born failure', ending up in jail for burglary. After prison he turned from crime to music and poetry. In 1989 he was nominated for Oxford Professor of Poetry, and has since received honorary doctorates from several English universities, but famously refused to accept a nomination for an OBE in 2003....

Introduced by Sir Richard Eyre, these four iconic productions, featuring star casts, bring Shakespeare's gripping histories to life in all their rich complexity. Henry IV, Part One Young Prince Hal struggles with his responsibilities as heir to the throne, preferring the company of the dissolute Falstaff. But when England is threatened with rebellion, will he do his duty? Father and son Julian Glover and Jamie Glover star as King Henry and Prince...