he International Advisory Group (IAG) carries advisory responsibility for the project, supporting the Creative Interruptions team and advising on the development of the project’s plans and milestones.


Professor Benjamin Zephaniah was one of the pioneers of the performance poetry scene in Britain. He was part of the ‘school’ known as the ‘Dub Poets’. These were poets that work alongside reggae music. He has spent most of his life performing around the world in schools, universities, concert halls, and in public spaces.
His poetry is noted for mixing serious issues with humour, and being accessible to a wide range of people. He is able to perform in children’s nurseries or political rallies, and his strongest area of interest is looking at how poetry works in performance and its relationship to music.
He has also written novels for young adults, and plays for radio and stage. Although his music is rooted in reggae, his recordings now have many influences including, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Dubstep. He contributes to many radio programmes and has presented documentaries on radio and television concerning literature, culture, race and politics.
He is the patron of 35 organisations, including Haven Distribution, which sends books to prisoners. Aik Saath, which helps to bring together young people of all and no faith. Inquest, an organisation that supports the families of those who have died whilst in custody, and The Vegan Society of Britain. Although he came to academia via an unusual route, he is currently visiting professor at De Montfort University Leicester, and Professor of Poetry and Creative Writing at Brunel University.



His books include Authority in Islam (1989); Theology of Discontent (1993); Truth and Narrative (1999); Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, Future (2001); Staging a Revolution: The Art of Persuasion in the Islamic Republic of Iran (2000); Masters and Masterpieces of Iranian Cinema (2007); Iran: A People Interrupted (2007); and an edited volume, Dreams of a Nation: On Palestinian Cinema (2006). His most recent works are Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire (Routledge, 2008) and Post-Orientalism: Knowledge and Power in Time of Terror (Transaction Publishers, 2009).


