Benjamin Zephaniah: 'Everything about the man was grace and wonder'

Pogus Caesar's project with Benjamin Zephaniah combined poetry and images

Everything about Benjamin Zephaniah was "grace and wonder," his friend and collaborator has said.

"His words were just so powerful, so beautiful, so eloquent," said Pogus Caesar, whose last work with him was a film on the 1985 Handsworth riots.

"He was just a major force in British history."

Caesar was speaking after the death of poet and writer Zephaniah, aged 65, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour just eight weeks ago.

The pair's film on the riots, called Tiny Spark, combined Zephaniah's poetry with Caesar's artwork, and premiered in August.

Both of them grew up in Birmingham, but as young men realised "that through our artistry our work spoke to people, not just here but internationally too".

Pogus Caesar captured images of the 1985 riots that were used in collaborative projects with Zephaniah

"The last time I saw him," added Caesar. "He made it to the film screening - that's the kind of person he was, he wouldn't let anybody down.

"He inspired so many people on so many fronts, I really don't think he realised the power that he had."

The poet had written a foreword in his photographic book Sparkbrook Pride, celebrating the residents of the area, he explained.

'Small island boys'

Handsworth Riots revisited was a 2019 project which saw Caesar's images of the riots posted on billboards around Birmingham with accompanying poetry.

"I just think that he was really one of my greatest collaborators," the photographer added.

"He knew how to engage with so many people on different fronts, and that was the magic that he had.

"And him being from Birmingham as well, his parents are from Barbados and I'm from Saint Kitts, you know from the smaller islands," he explained.

"So we would say 'look at us small island boys, we haven't done too badly' so we would laugh and joke about that.

"He knew how to engage with so many people on different fronts, and that was the magic that he had."

The writer and poet grew up in Birmingham before moving to London

Birmingham community campaigner Desmond Jadoo, said the world had lost an "iconic figure and a true story of talent and success".

"Growing up in Handsworth really moulded him into who he was and who he became," he said.

"I remember we even had marches for equality and social justice and who was there at the forefront of it? Benjamin - right here in Birmingham," he added.

"He's a major loss to our community."