Zephaniah delights with dub performance

By FIONA ALLISON* and KYLIE TANNAHILL*

English dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah inspired new fans and longtime followers to explore his work and beliefs at an intimate hui in Auckland's Town Hall yesterday during Ignite 2001.

He took his 100-strong audience on an eccentric journey, zig-zagging from poetry to patter, at times even letting them finish his sentences.

Zephaniah, 43, who left school at 13 and spent his teenage years in and out of jail, appealed to an eclectic audience which included five-year-old kids who'd come to meet their hero.

"I want to perform to people like me who think poetry has nothing to do with them," said Zephaniah, who sees the eight-day festival as a chance for young people to express themselves.

"I'm not the product of a great education. I want to show kids coming to the cross-roads that they have another path."

With reggae music's rhythm and rhyme, his performance tackled issues like sexuality, animal rights and racism.

"I still think some of the best poems are those that work for adults and children," said Zephaniah who for a long time refused to write poetry just for children.

He delighted his audience with a performance of Talking Turkeys, his well-known poem about a turkey's perspective of Christmas. Other poems like Fight Them Not Me tackled the issue of black oppression in Britain in the late 70s and early 80s.

* The authors are journalism students at Auckland University of Technology.

Feature: ignite2001 festival

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