BENJAMIN AT BRUNEL UNIVERSITY

Benjamin Zephaniah joined Brunel in September 2011, taking up his first ever academic post as Chair of Creative Writing.

His appointment was part of Brunel’s English and Creative Writing provision, where he aimed to emphasise performance poetry and the oral/spoken word tradition rather than purely text-based poetry.

At Brunel he taught modules such as Writing Poetry for Performance, encouraging students to think of poetry as live, spoken, rhythmic and rooted in experience.

Impact and legacy
Benjamin’s 12-year career at the university made a huge contribution to the life of the university, transforming the lives of hundreds of students as well as colleagues.

He broke down conventional academic hierarchies, sharing his lived experience — leaving school at 13, unable to read and write, yet becoming a leading poet and academic.

In recognition of his contributions, Brunel renamed a prominent outdoor space on campus to Benjamin Zephaniah Square and installed a commemorative plaque.

Brunel established an annual Benjamin Zephaniah Day (first held in April 2025) on campus to celebrate his life, legacy, poetry, performance and activism.

Significance and themes
Benjamin’s approach emphasised performance, spoken word, social justice, anti-establishment thinking and bringing poetry to people rather than keeping it in academic ivory towers.

His appointment at Brunel is particularly meaningful because he came from a non-traditional educational background, emphasising that “formal schooling” is not the only route to creative and academic success.

At Brunel he also supported outreach and community engagement—making poetry accessible to students and communities that might not traditionally have felt part of academic literary worlds.