BCU Presents Benjamin Zephaniah
Future Writers
In celebration of the life and rhymes of BCU Honorary Doctorate and national treasure Benjamin Zephaniah, who was an extraordinary poet, a passionate writer and a Birmingham icon.
The competition has now ended and will return in 2025.
About Benjamin Zephaniah
Born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, Benjamin Zephaniah became a national treasure through his writing and extraordinary poetry, later becoming an actor, a musician and a professor of poetry and creative writing. His love of animals, nature, and his strong beliefs in human rights, made him popular with many. Benjamin drew on his lived experiences of dyslexia, incarceration, racism and his Jamaican heritage, and he aimed to make his work accessible for all. His writing shaped generations of both adults and children, and he left a remarkable legacy on the city he was born and the nation he called home.
The competition
BCU's new competition 'BCU Presents: Benjamin Zephaniah Future Writers', with support from Benjamin's wife, Qian Zephaniah, and Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, encouraged both children and adults to submit poetry and short stories around a theme.
The theme
The theme for 2024 was inspired by Benjamin's poem 'People Need People' and encouraged poems and short stories to be written about friends, family, peers, and those in your lives and communities who you rely upon and have connections with.
The categories
Primary school children:
- Year One, Year Two and Year Three
- Year Four, Year Five and Year Six
Secondary school children:
- Year Seven, Year Eight and Year Nine
- GCSE: Year Ten and Year Eleven, and A-Level/College: Year Twelve and Thirteen
- Adults (18+)
- BCU category - Staff, Students and Graduates
The Winners 2024
BCU Staff, Students and Graduates Category
Year 1, 2 and 3 Category
Year 4, 5 and 6 Category
Year 7, 8 and 9 Category
Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 Category
Adults Category
The judges for the 2024 Competition
Professor Gregory Leadbetter
Professor of Poetry at BCU
Gregory is Professor of Poetry at BCU. His books and pamphlets of poetry include 'Caliban', 'Balanuve', 'Maskwork', 'The Fetch', and 'The Body in the Well'. Recent work for the BBC includes 'Metal City', and a song-cycle featuring poems from 'The Fetch' has been performed internationally. As a critic, he publishes on the history and practice of poetry, and his book 'Coleridge and the Daemonic Imagination' was awarded the University English Book Prize.
Casey Bailey
Poet, Writer and Educator, and former Birmingham Poet Laureate
Casey is an award-winning writer, performer and educator. Born and raised in Nechells, Birmingham, Casey was the Birmingham Poet Laureate from 2020 - 2022. His second full poetry collection 'Please Do Not Touch' was published in 2021. His debut play 'GrimeBoy' had a sold-out run at The REP, Birmingham, in 2022. He was commissioned by the BBC to write 'The Ballad of The Peaky Blinders' in 2019, winning a Webby Award. In 2022, Casey won a Royal Television Society award for a film for his poem “Dear Brum”. Casey has performed his poetry nationally and internationally. He was named BCU's Alumnus of the Year in 2024.
Jonathan Davidson
CEO of Writing West Midlands
Jonathan has worked for over thirty years in arts management and literature development. He is joint founder of the Birmingham Literature Festival and Chief Executive of Writing West Midlands. He lives in Birmingham.
Madeleine Kludje
Deputy Artistic Director at The REP Birmingham
Madeleine is Deputy Artistic Director at The REP, Birmingham, and is an alumna of The Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme. Her recent directing work includes 'Swim, Aunty, Swim' (Belgrade Theatre), 'Sky Comedy Rep', 'City of a Thousand Trades' (Birmingham Royal Ballet and The REP), 'Grimeboy' (The REP) and 'Park Bench Plays' (The REP). Madeleine also leads The REP's Talent Development programme.
Naush Sabah
Lecturer in Creative Writing at BCU and Editor of Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal
Naush is a writer, editor, and educator. In 2019, she co-founded Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal where she is currently Editor and Publishing Director. She was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature's 2021 Sky Arts Writers Award. Her debut pamphlet 'Litanies' was published in 2021 and shortlisted for the Michael Marks Poetry Award. Naush was Birmingham Literature Festival's inaugural Poet-in-Residence in 2022, and she is currently Poet-in-Residence at the Birmingham and Midland Institute. She is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Birmingham City University.
Dr Catherine Gale
Owner of The Heath Bookshop
Catherine is co-owner of The Heath Bookshop in Kings Heath. Following 25 years of working with children, having completed a BSc (Hons) degree at Birmingham City University in Speech & Language Pathology & Therapeutics, and a PhD in Behaviour Analysis with Oslo Metropolitan University, Catherine followed her dream of owning a bookshop. Catherine, with her business partner Claire Dawes, opened The Heath Bookshop in 2022.
Dr Martin Glynn
Senior Lecturer at BCU, Poet and friend of Benjamin Zephaniah
Dr Martin Glynn is a criminologist, dramatist, screenwriter, children's author, and data storyteller with over 40 years' experience of working in criminal justice, public health, and educational settings. Dr Glynn is currently a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Birmingham City University and is a member of the Crime Writers Association (UK).
