Skip to main content
Benjamin Zephaniah celebrated on the first anniversary of his death
Poet Benjamin Zephaniah unveils an English Heritage blue plague for Bob Marley, at his home on Oakley Street in Battersea, London, October 1, 2019

LATE iconic poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah will be celebrated at an event in Stratford, east London, tomorrow on the first anniversary of his death.

The memorial event at the Source, in Stratford Youth Zone, will pay tribute to the “The Bard of Stratford,” as he was affectionately known, with an exhibition of his works on black British history and human rights, as well as performances and speeches from his friends, including poet Michael Rosen, Riddim Squad, Asad Rehman and Deborah Coles, the director of legal rights charity Inquest, of which Zephaniah was a patron.

Zephaniah died last year aged 65 following an eight-week battle with a brain tumour.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Memorial plaque on the side wall of The Songbird overlooking the beer garden / pic author supplied
Features / 8 September 2026
8 September 2026

As the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish civil war is marked, Teesside campaigners will gather to remember the local men and women who stood against fascism, explains TONY FOX

Marx Memorial Library
Features / 8 September 2026
8 September 2026

MML director MEIRIAN JUMP outlines the recently refreshed library’s busy autumn schedule that ranges from book sales, archival exploration, community work with online education and the ever popular site tours

Police struggle to hold back hundreds of pickets as a worker's bus approaches the Grunwick film processing plant in Willesden, north London
Industrial / 4 September 2026
4 September 2026
Pic: Alan Denney/Creative Commons
Features / 23 May 2026
23 May 2026

Through marches, music, schools and political debate, campaigners in Tower Hamlets are using the 90th anniversary of Cable Street to inspire resistance to modern racism. GLYN ROBBINS explains