Propa Propaganda

Benjamin Zephaniah

ISBN 10: 1852243724 / ISBN 13: 9781852243722

Published by Bloodaxe Books Ltd, United Kingdom, Tyne and Wear, 1996

About this Item

Propa Propaganda was Benjamin Zephaniahs second collection from Bloodaxe. First published in 1996, it includes some of his classic poems, such as I Have a Scheme, The Death of Joy Gardner, White Comedy and The Angry Black Poet. Best known for his performance poetry with a political edge for adults and his poetry with attitude for children he was the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley, in a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela, which Mandela heard while in prison on Robben Island. He has published three other poetry books with Bloodaxe, City Psalms, Too Black Too Strong and To Do Wid Me (a DVD-book including a film portrait by Pamela Robertson-Pearce). His autobiography, The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah, was published by Scribner in 2018. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Seller Inventory # GOR001809744

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Propa Propaganda
• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd, United Kingdom, Tyne and Wear
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852243724
• ISBN 13: 9781852243722
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 132 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Propa Propaganda was Benjamin Zephaniah's second collection from Bloodaxe. It includes some of his best-known poems, including 'I Have a Scheme', 'The Death of Joy Gardner', 'White Comedy' and 'The Angry Black Poet'.

Best known for his performance poetry with a political edge for adults – and his poetry with attitude for children – Zephaniah had his own rap/reggae band. He produced numerous recordings, including Dub Ranting (1982), Rasta (1983), Us and Dem (1990), Back to Roots (1995), Belly of de Beast (1996) and Naked (2004). He was the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley, in a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela, which Mandela heard while in prison on Robben Island. Their later meetings led to Zephaniah working with children in South African townships and hosting the President’s Two Nations Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1996.

Benjamin Zephaniah’s poetry for adults has been brought together in Dis Poetry: Selected Poems & Lyrics (Bloodaxe Books, April 2025). This posthumous retrospective includes all the poems from his three Bloodaxe collections, City Psalms (1992), Propa Propaganda (1996) and Too Black Too Strong (2001), as well as some from The Dread Affair (Arena, 1985), along with previously unpublished work and lyrics from various recordings. A QR code printed in Dis Poetry links to Pamela Robertson-Pearce’s film portrait of Benjamin Zephaniah from the DVD-book To Do Wid Me (Bloodaxe Books, 2013).

About the Author

Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-2023) was a writer and performer of extraordinary range: an oral poet, novelist, playwright, children’s writer, reggae artist, actor, television personality and political activist. Born in Birmingham, he grew up in Handsworth, where he was sent to an approved school for being uncontrollable, rebellious and ‘a born failure’, ending up in jail for burglary and affray.

After prison he turned from crime to music and poetry. In 1989 he was nominated for Oxford Professor of Poetry, and received honorary doctorates from several English universities, but famously refused to accept a nomination for an OBE in 2003. He was voted Britain's third favourite poet of all time (after T.S. Eliot and John Donne) in a BBC poll in 2009. In 2011 he was poet-in-residence at Keats House in 2011, and then made a radical career change by taking up his first ever academic position as a Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University in West London.

His many acting roles included preacher Jeremiah ‘Jimmy’ Jesus in Peaky Blinders, and he played Gower in a BBC Radio 3 production of Shakespeare’s Pericles in 2005. He was a regular panellist on BBC One's Question Time. 

Best known for his performance poetry with a political edge for adults – and his poetry with attitude for children – he had his own rap/reggae band. He produced numerous recordings, including Dub Ranting (1982), Rasta (1983), Us and Dem (1990), Back to Roots (1995), Belly of de Beast (1996), Naked (2004) and Revolutionary Minds (2017). He was the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley, in a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela, which Mandela heard while in prison on Robben Island. Their later meetings led to Zephaniah working with children in South African townships and hosting the President’s Two Nations Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1996.

His first book of poems, Pen Rhythm, was produced in 1980 by a small East London publishing cooperative, Page One Books. His second collection, The Dread Affair, was published by Hutchinson’s short-lived Arena imprint in 1985. He published three collections with Bloodaxe, City Psalms (1992), Propa Propaganda (1996) and Too Black, Too Strong (2001), the latter including poems written while working with Michael Mansfield QC and other Tooks barristers on the Stephen Lawrence case. His DVD-book To Do Wid Me: Benjamin Zephaniah live and direct (filmed by Pamela Robertson-Pearce) followed from Bloodaxe in 2013. His posthumous retrospective Dis Poetry: Selected Poems & Lyrics – published 15 April 2025 – brings together all the poems from Benjamin’s three Bloodaxe collections, City Psalms, Propa Propaganda and Too Black, Too Strong, as well as some from The Dread Affair, along with previously unpublished work and lyrics from various recordings.

His other titles include his poetry books for children, Talking Turkeys (1994), Funky Chickens (1996) and Wicked World (2000), all from Puffin/Penguin; his novels for teenagers, Face (1999), Refugee Boy (2001), Gangsta Rap (2004) and Teacher’s Dead (2007), all from Bloomsbury; The Bloomsbury Book of Love Poems (1999); Schools Out: Poems Not for School (1997) and The Little Book of Vegan Poems (2001) from AK Press; and We Are Britain (Frances Lincoln, 2003). He published his autobiography, The Life and Rhymes and Benjamin Zephaniah, with Simon & Schuster in 2018. Benjamin Zephaniah’s poetry book for young children, Leave the Trees, Please, illustrated by Melissa Castrillon, was published by Magic Cat Publishing in April 2025.