birthday benjamin

my portrait series, art/history, aims to make people aware of lesser-known heroes or to shine a spotlight on the humanity of much-vaunted figures. i'd been meaning to draw this most excellent human being for ages...but october was the month when another superb human celebrated her arrival on this planet - & she happens to love benjamin zephaniah. she's why i chose to honour him. his life is poetry. he's proof, too, that people whom society might write off as no good (he went to prison for burglary) aren't necessarily lost causes. benjamin has made it his life's work to make poetry accessible to all. his subjects are varied, but always infused with compassion for others - as well as a good dollop of humour. not only has this 60 year old polymath been vegan since the age of 13, but he's also turned down an OBE. he's as perfect as it's possible to be.