You’re supposed to mellow with age. I’ve become more angry
Benjamin Zephaniah has been called the people’s laureate and chats with MARION McMULLEN about Peaky Blinders, poetry and slamming the phone down on Nelson Mandela
How did turning 60 feel?
IT’S weird. The birthdays with zeros at the end are always the toughest. (Laughs) My brain still feels childlike and I still like climbing trees.
I was minding my friend’s kids recently and we all ended up climbing trees and when he came home he was like ‘Benjamin act your age. Man, you should be ashamed.’
I just forget sometimes how old I am. I was once stopped by the police and I genuinely could not remember my age. They thought I was trying to pull a fast one, but I had to phone my mum and ask.
Did you celebrate the big day?
NOT really. I’ve got a twin sister and she doesn’t celebrate either. I’ve never had a birthday party in my life, but if I make it to 70 maybe I’ll have a party then – but not in my house. (Laughs) I don’t want people walking on my carpet.
I’ve had three ideas for a party – a party with just women because I like talking to women and they speak their mind, a party with my music or a party where we all just sit and talk.
Do your get recognised for Peaky Blinders as well as your poetry these days?
(LAUGHS) It’s another string to my bow. Two guys came up to me recently saying ‘It’s Benjamin Zephaniah. Can we have an autograph?’ And one said ‘I think you’re best poet’ and the other said ‘I thought he was an actor’.
Both realised they liked me for different things, but I like to think the one guy might have gone and checked out my poetry later.
Your autobiography The Life And Rhymes Of Benjamin Zephaniah is about to be published and you will be hitting the road for your first UK tour in eight years. What can people expect?
I WROTE my autobiography gradually, over six years, and that was always the deal. I wanted it to be a social history of Britain.
It starts with my mother, she was one of the Windrush generation, and it charts the race riots, global events, my friendships with people like Nelson Mandela and Tony Benn and my career as a poet.
They say you’re supposed to mellow with age – but I haven’t. If anything, I’ve become more angry.
What’s been the initial reaction?
PEOPLE have read early copies and have said it’s such an interesting life, but to me it’s just my life. I didn’t want it to be just about me, but about the times I’ve lived through as well.
I’ll sit and talk to a homeless person for example and find out everything about him and find that fascinating or again just talking to women. They say if you want to know a country talk to a taxi driver, but I say talk to the women if you want to know about a country. They will always tell you the truth.
What interests you?
MY interests are wide-ranging and I think we live in a time that has seen some incredible people like Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, David Bowie and Stephen Hawking, who is going to be remembered like Einstein.
I saw him one day in Cambridge, but I didn’t go up to him even though I have read his book A Brief History Of Time from cover to cover.
How would you describe your close friendship with Nelson Mandela?
I’M afraid I had him on the phone once and we had a bit of a row and I slammed the phone down on him and he slammed the phone down on me. Some people in my office said ‘ You put the phone down on Nelson Mandela. Oh, you’re going to regret that.’ But he once said to me ‘I like you Benjamin because you don’t worship me.’ And he was right. He was no angel, but he was a great man.
What is one of your favourite memories?
I REMEMBER performing at the Royal Albert Hall and the Queen was in the audience and afterwards she came backstage. I’m not a massive royalist, but I respect them and her security staff came in and then she came in and it was all a little stiff and formal and then Nelson Mandela came in and shouted ‘Benjamin’ and jumped on my back like a long lost brother and hugged everyone. I did turn down an OBE. I have nothing against the royal family. It’s the institution of monarchy I’m not keen on. (Laughs) My mum thinks she’s the Queen of Birmingham.
What’s your top tip for keeping young?
LISTENING to young people’s music, whether you like it or not, and understanding why it it important to them. Every generation says ‘It’s not like the music of my day.’ People now say ‘It’s not like the Sex Pistols’ and before that it was ‘It’s not like Elvis Presley’ and before even that ‘It’s not Jim Reeves.’
The Life And Rhymes Of Benjamin Zephaniah is published by Simon and Schuster on May 3. Go to benjaminzephaniah.com for tour details.