University names building after Benjamin Zephaniah

A university has renamed one of its buildings in honour of the late poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah.

Zephaniah, from Handsworth in Birmingham, was a Brummie legend whose career spanned poetry, literature, music and acting. He died in December 2023, aged 65.

Birmingham City University (BCU) has now renamed a four-storey building, formerly known as University House, as the Benjamin Zephaniah Building.

BCU Vice Chancellor David Mba said Zephaniah had strived to "give a voice to the voiceless" and to show that education must be inclusive.

Zephaniah, the son of a Barbadian postman and a Jamaican nurse, was dyslexic and unable to read or write when he left school aged 13.

Yet he went on to have a career that included performing dub poetry, writing novels and children's books, and appearing in the BBC series Peaky Blinders.

BCU awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2005.

Zephaniah died eight weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumour, sparking tributes across his home city that have so far included an open-air exhibition, a mural, and a commemorative blue plaque.

The Windrush National Organisation also paid tribute to the poet, who spent his final years in Moulton Chapel, near Spalding, Lincolnshire.

BCU also launched a poetry competition last year in his honour. The contest launched its second edition last week and is open for entries until 21 July.

Zephaniah's wife Qian, Birmingham poet laureate Ayan Aden, and Baroness Mary Bousted, former joint general secretary of the National Education Union, attended the BCU building's official opening last week.

The building, which is on the university's city centre campus, has science labs, a space for design and technology, an art room, and general teaching rooms.

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