Born on April 15^th, 1958, Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Springer was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, to a Barbadian father and a Jamaican mother. And it would be his unique upbringing during the 60s, 70s and 80s that led to him becoming Britain’s most beloved poet, and a co-star of the popular show Peaky Blinders.

This is the story of Benjamin Zephaniah, a man who transformed his early struggles and devoted his life to changing the world through the power of poetry, activism, and storytelling.

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Benjamin Zephaniah was one of five siblings living in Hockley, Birmingham. At the time, his family were considered poor. Their household had a two-at-a-time bathing rule, where Benjamin shared his bath time with his sibling. Because there just wasn’t enough hot water on offer.

Benjamin recalls begging his mother for some more hot water while bathing with his sister Velda. His mother would then appear with a kettle full of water, telling him that there will be no more top-ups after this.

Everything about the family’s surroundings was grey. Grey skies from the smoke and fog of factories, gray pavements, and gray tin baths. This was the life for many families like Benjamin’s back then, but the beauty in the situation was that he and his family had each other.

Growing up as a young black boy in the West-Midlands was tough. Children back then had to walk around with thicker skin, because they would continuously encounter racism. Benjamin noticed how his teachers at school would speak to him in a rougher tone of voice than other children, and often treat him as if he was stupid. His classmates would call him names and racial slurs.

But as they were just words, Benjamin let these insults slide. Sadly, it wouldn’t be long before the racism turned physical.

It was a warm, sunny day, and Benjamin had just been playing football with his friends. Birds were chirping, dogs were barking, and Benjamin was smiling. He set out on his way home, coming up with rhymes about the sun in his head. Out of nowhere, Benjamin heard someone yell the words “Black Bastard!”

Before he had time to locate the person, a heavy house brick nailed him at the back of the head. A rider on a bicycle had the brick in his hand, and hit Benjamin with it as he rode past, making the force of the attack terrifying.

The rider looked back at Benjamin and yelled, “Go home, wog!”

For those unfamiliar with the term wog, it refers to a popular rag doll back in the late 19^th century, created by cartoonist Florence K. Upton. The doll had dark skin, big red lips, and frilly black hair. The doll is based on blackface minstrel traditions, which were prominent back then. So naturally, racists would correlate the Golliwog dolls with black people.

Unable to process what he’d just experienced, Benjamin ran home to his mother and told her about the encounter, specifically the part about the boy telling him to go home. His mother reassured him. “This is home, Benjamin,” she said. “This house is your home.”

Racial tensions were high in this era, and Benjamin’s family had to navigate this on a daily basis. Benjamin described his mother as someone who would ignore people who were being blatantly racist to her face, and act like it wasn’t happening. In his autobiography, Benjamin says:

“She was always trying to see the good in people. Even when the people weren’t good.”

This kind of blind optimism in the face of atrocity is perhaps what set the foundations for Benjamin’s strength of character later in life, giving him a sense that everything would be okay, even when it wasn’t.

Thankfully, Benjamin found some friends in the Irish and Gypsy communities. You see, back then, many British people disliked the Irish nearly as much as they disliked black people. This allowed black and Irish families to relate and find common ground among one another, paving the way for Benjamin to find common ground with the Irish and Gypsy kids. Benjamin was the type of person who would embrace anybody of any race, or gender. He believed in treating others how he wished to be treated.

He got on so well with his Irish friends that he’d even fight to project them. Sticking up for them when they were bullied.

Benjamin Zephaniah’s Early Poetry Influences

Poetry was introduced into Benjamin’s life at an early stage through his mother, Lineve, but not in any conventional way. His mother would often speak naturally in a rhyme pattern, sometimes stretching out words intentionally to make them rhyme. She would never call herself a poet, to her, it was just a way to aid her memory and keep her children entertained.

Lineve Faleta Honeyghan was born in the St Elizabeth parish, in the southwest of Jamaica. She was raised in a big family, and lived in Jamaica up to her early twenties. This meant that she had soaked in much of the Jamaican cultural values. Typically, Jamaicans love rhymes, poems and metaphors, and insert them into their speech.

Rhymes and music would continue to play a huge part in Lineve’s life when she settled in Birmingham. When Benjamin was young, his parents owned an old-school Radiogram. This device was a combined radio and record player unit built like a cabinet.

His parents, Lineve and Oswald, would keep the radiogram in a room designed especially for entertaining friends. Benjamin had many memories of Saturday afternoons, when his parents friends and family members would come over. The men would be wearing suits, and ties while pouring themselves glasses of rum. While the women would be in the kitchen wearing colorful dresses and mixing fruit punch. Everyone enjoying the latest and greatest sounds from back in the Caribbean. Benjamin would mingle with the adults, despite being much younger than them. And it was here when he started to develop his ability to rhyme.

When the songs would fade out, Benjamin would continue rhyming words in his head, picking up the themes from the song that had just played. Sometimes he’d also do this at school or at the local playground.

He would make up rhymes for the girls he had a crush on after playing kiss-chase. While the other boys were out of breath from running, the girls were kissing Benjamin after hearing his rhymes about them. There was no running required for him, just rhyming. Keep in mind that at this age, those kisses were more like pecks on the cheek.

Nobody knew it then, but this was the early development of a master poet. Coming up with rhymes about what was happening in his living room, and about his crushes at the playground, was the practice that would develop the complex rhyming patterns seen in his later work.

As Benjamin grew into his teens and early adulthood, he would experience many hardships in his life that would force him to be socially aware of the events taking place around him.

Fighting Back Against Domestic Abuse

Throughout his life, Benjamin had an estranged relationship with his father. Oswald Springer, a Barbadian man, worked at the post office. With his mother being Jamaican, and his father Barbadian, there were sometimes cultural differences between the two. 

Benjamin, had known his father to be somewhat violent. Oswald would give him harsh beatings whenever he did something wrong. But things came to a head one day when Oswald was lashing out at his mother. Despite being young, Benjamin wouldn’t stand for it. He stuck up for his mother, trying to fight back against Oswald the best he could.

This altercation would inevitably lead to Benjamin and his mother leaving the house and finding other places to stay. They even left behind Benjamin’s siblings, who would stay with Oswald for a time.

Lineve and Benjamin would seek refuge at women’s shelters, but Lineve would be turned away, because the other women at the shelters weren’t comfortable with a black woman being around. In this era, racist discrimination was prevalent.

Together, Benjamin and his mother would jump from place to place, moving around Birmingham and sometimes renting small rooms.

Becoming Vegan Before Knowing What Veganism Was

Another event that would shape Benjamin’s conscious future was when he made an important life decision for himself. At eleven, Benjamin would have a serious boy to woman talk with his mother at the dinner table.

You see, Benjamin had never enjoyed eating meat. He was the type of boy who loved animals, and he knew early on that meat was associated with animals. When Benjamin was given a plate of food to eat, he’d always have a bag under the table to slip the meat into. And then he’d throw away this bag when he brought his plate into the kitchen.

So on this one day at the dinner table, his curiosity led him to ask his mother some questions about meat.

“Where did you get the meat?” Benjamin asked her.

“The Butcher,” his mother replied.

“Where’d the butcher get it from?” he asked.

“From the farmer,” said his mother.

So Benjamin went on to ask the obvious question: “Where did the farmer get it from?”

His mother said “He got it from the cow.”

What a clever cow, Benjamin thought to himself. And then he went on to ask the question “What is the cow doing with meat?”

“You silly boy,” his mother replied. “This IS the cow.”

Benjamin was horrified to have his suspicions confirmed about meat. He pushed his plate away and said “I won’t eat my friends.”

And that was the last time Benjamin was ever given meat to eat. He told everyone about his decision, even the dinner ladies at school. His friends would question why he’s only eating potatoes and vegetables.

Later, at thirteen years old, Benjamin would double down on his decision and go full vegan. He realized that mother’s produced milk for their children, and it was the same for animals. He stopped drinking milk, and consuming any form of dairy product.

At the time, this was unheard of for a child of Benjamin’s age with no medical condition. Veganism wasn’t even a term people used back then, so it wasn’t like Benjamin was even aware that it was an option. His venture into veganism was purely organic. It was a conclusion that he came to himself as a child, and that’s what makes it powerful.

Benjamin’s Adolescent Years

A turning point came in Benjamin’s life when his mum entered a relationship with a pastor. Young Benjamin and his mother would eventually move in with the Pastor and his family, and Benjamin inherited a whole new family. The pastor’s house was always packed, and Benjamin shared a bed with up to three or four other children.

It was living here where Benjamin would grow into his adolescent years and experience many things for the first time, including his first adult kiss with a girl.

Benjamin and the Pastor’s son Trevor became best friends, and together, they developed their love for football and reggae music. As with many young boys, Benjamin and Trevor got up to wild extracurricular activities.

These activities turned from innocent but defiant to straight up risky and illegal as the kids grew up. You see, teenagers feel pressure to be like their peers. If there are cool kids with all the best clothes, then other kids will want to fit the same image, even if their parents can’t afford to fund that level of fashion. This motivated Benjamin, Trevor and their friend Philip to make their own money.

Together, they would carry out a string of robberies. This inevitably led to Benjamin being arrested and charged, and he’d soon have to appear in court. Benjamin, Trevor and Philip would all end up confessing to their crimes, but as they were still very young, their punishments weren’t severe.

Benjamin’s criminal activities would continue, as he would be involved in petty thefts and robberies.

At one point, he was also accused of sexual assault. However, this was overturned when a prostitute came clean and admitted that a police officer forced her to say that Benjamin had sexually assaulted her. She felt sorry for Benjamin being set up and couldn’t live with his conviction being on her conscience.

These are the things that take place when a young man, full of energy and ambition, has little opportunity to capitalise on.

At this time, corporate jobs weren’t widely accessible to a young black man. There was either low-paying jobs, or the street economy.

The Rastafarian Life

Despite there being little opportunities for Benjamin to shine, there was one outlet that allowed him to display his creativity in full effect. Benjamin, Trevor and some of their other friends would toast at blues parties.

The way these worked is that people would find empty houses, or flats that were between tenancies, and they would bring sound systems, drinks and food into the location. The sound systems weren’t your typical stereos. They were custom-built rigs the size of wardrobes. The parties would be promoted through would of mouth, causing all the local community to show up. Because these parties were illegal, police would sometimes raid them, shutting down the party early in the night.

But there were no bad intentions behind these parties. They were all about absorbing the vibes from the music: which would be a mix of hard reggae, reggae with no words, and reggae dubs—which are remixed and enhanced versions of existing records. In fact, parties like these set the foundations for the clubs, raves, and house parties that would become mainstream throughout the late 80s, 90s and 2000s.

It was in these environments that Benjamin would learn how to freestyle, coming up with on-the-spot lyrics and poetry that fit with the music being played. A microphone was readily available for anyone who could exercise these skills, and Benjamin realised people would listen to what he had to say whenever he did.

This is what’s called toasting. It was the toaster’s job to be a social commentator and use wit and verbal dexterity to communicate with the audience, speaking about culture, politics and police brutality.

Many of the toasters at the parties would talk about things happening in Jamaica, which was a common theme throughout these nights. Benjamin did something different to stand out. He spoke about topics affecting people directly in Handsworth, as well as topics affecting other parts of the world like South Africa. He’d even shed light on the Vietnam War. After such a performance, the echoes of praise would often follow him.

“Wise words, brother!” people would tell him after stepping off the stage.

This was the confidence boost he needed to consider taking his talents to the next level.

This was also around the time when Benjamin made his Rastafarian name official. It was made official by an Elder of the Rastafarian Twelve Tribes. It was a simple ceremony, which included the burning of ganja in a chalice, with drums being played, and an elder reading from the book of Zephaniah.

Most Rastafarians take names that are biblical or African. The important thing is not to take names passed down from slave owners. For example, Bob Marley’s Rastafarian name was Joseph. Trevor Sutherland was Ijahman Levi, and Michael Williams was Prince Far I.

With that, Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Springer officially changed his name to Benjamin Zephaniah. He would also visit Jamaica often, meeting his friends and family back home.

Leaving Birmingham for London to Persue Poetry

One summer night in 1978, Benjamin lay on his bed watching the ceiling, wondering what life was all about. He reflected on the bad choices he’d made in his life, like the circle of crimes he’d been involved in. He recalled the teacher at Broadway Comprehensive, who had told him he was a born failure who would end up dead or in prison.

Benjamin knew that if things carried on the way they were, with no opportunities for growth in his life, then the teacher would be proven correct.

Since he was eight years old, he’d been telling everyone that he was going to be a poet when he grew up. Since then, people often praised his poems and toasting performances, but he had nothing to show for it.

Benjamin reached under his bed and pulled out a big folder full of his poems. Inside was a letter he’d received from Bob Marley after writing to him and posting the letter years ago. The letter was brief, but the message from Bob was powerful. It read: Britain needs you, so forward on. Meaning that Bob Marley respected Benjamin’s work that had been sent to him, and he recognised Britain would benefit from being home to a raw talent like Benjamin.

The next day, Benjamin went to his friends. These were friends he’d been selling stolen car parts with to get by. He told them he couldn’t do it anymore and that he was moving to London. His friends protested. “Come on, man. You know you can make good money here,” they said.

Benjamin told them he remembered how good he was toasting on the sound systems, and that his heart was with his poetry. He told them he wanted to be a revolutionary poet, and that it was crunch time. Benjamin paid them whatever he owed them, and when they asked when they’d see him again, he told them, “next time you see me, it will be on TV.”

Benjamin sounded confident, but in reality, he had no idea how he was going to do this. But if he didn’t speak it like it was possible, he knew his ambitions would fall flat from the start.

Benjamin didn’t even have a place to go to in London. By chance, a friend of his gave him the address of one of his ex-girlfriends named Clara in London, in hopes that Benjamin could go to her and figure out somewhere to sleep. Benjamin packed a few things, jumped into his Ford Escort, and drove through Birmingham toward the M6.

He stopped along the way at a music rehearsal space where a band was rehearsing. The band didn’t have a name yet, but they would go on to call themselves UB40. Benjamin knew some of the guys they hung out with, so he stuck around and mingled.

He noticed a girl watching the band. Attracted by her glamourous look, Benjamin spoke to her, and ended up convincing her to come to London with him. She agreed, and the two of them set out on the journey.

When they arrived in London, Clara wasn’t home. And she didn’t return for two days. That meant Benjamin and his new lady friend were stuck sleeping in the Ford Escort for two nights in a row. When Clara did return, she was happy to see Benjamin, as she’d met him once before when she dated his friend in Birmingham.

Clara made her money on the streets. And her home was a refuge for ladies of the night. That meant that Benjamin and his new friend often had to take whatever beds were available each night.

One day, Benjamin’s lady friend called one of her friends back home. She heard about how UB40 was taking off in their careers. They told her that she should have never left. After that, she up and disappeared without a word. Benjamin was now on his own in London. And with no one else to look after, he could focus on his next steps to success.

Clara was a godsend. She never asked Benjamin for a penny in rent. Benjamin felt bad for this, and considered registering as unemployed to get some money that he could give to her. She shot the idea down, but Benjamin knew he couldn’t rely on her forever.

One day, Benjamin went to hear a sound system in Brixton called Soferno B. He was dancing with a Jamaican girl, in a style called wyning. Someone tapped Benjamin on the shoulder and he turned around.

It was his old friend Pops from Wolverhampton. They were happy to see each other and spent some time catching up. Soon, Pops told Benjamin he knew a place where he could stay rent free.

It was a licensed Squat for artists and creatives. It was property that the council in Kilburn, North London owned but didn’t know what to do with, so they allowed creatives to stay there while they worked on their projects. Benjamin later thanked Clara and moved his small number of possessions to the place in Kilburn.

The place was perfect for Benjamin at the time. It had a bed, kitchen, toilet, and running water. The only thing it lacked was a bath. But there was a public bathhouse nearby that could be used for 50p. Benjamin had his own room, but shared the place with others. The place was a magnet for musicians with alternative styles.

Through networking at this location, he was connected with a woman called Sheila who helped him type up the early version of his poetry collection, Pen Rhythm. The book was still incomplete as Benjamin continued to soul search and perfect his fusion of Rastafarian spirituality and politics. He would sometimes watch news reports on TV, and they would get him so fired up for change that he’d write new poems. This was how the poem Happens Every Day was created.

When Benjamin read the poem the next morning, he was shocked that it came from him. He said this about Happens Every Day:

“It was as if there was some greater power working through me and controlling the pen.”

He would go on to type up more collections during this time, such as: Calling Rastafari, and City Psalms.

Rock against Racism and the National Front

In 1976, parts of London were becoming extremely progressive, and there were groups who didn’t like this. Around the time, Benjamin found himself experiencing new things. He would attend rock gigs where he was one of the only blacks in attendance.

On some occasions, rock groups would play on the same bill as reggae artists, fusing the fanbases even more. Sadly, not everyone looked at this unity as a positive thing.

A British politician named Enoc Powell once said that Britain was in danger of becoming a black colony. Legends like Eric Clapton publicly agreed with this.

A man named Red Saunders formed Rock Against Racism. Benjamin would attend their concerts as they consisted of a nice mixture of punk rock and reggae artists. Cultures were united at these events, and they served as great networking venues for Benjamin at this time.

Two weeks after the concert named Ruts, people who had attended the concert formed to protest against the National Front.

For those who don’t know – the National Front was a political party in the UK that held racist views. They raided cultural events that included black people and got them shut down. This often led to violent brawls in the streets as people wouldn’t take this behaviour lightly.

When the Rock Against Racism crowd teamed up with the ANL (Anti Nazi League) to protest a National Front meeting in Southall, it led to the events of the notorious Battle of Southall.

The event escalated into chaos, and many who attended the event noticed the police taking the side of the National Front. In the midst of this chaos, one of the protestors, Blair Peach, a teacher and a member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the Anti-Nazi League (ANL), was killed. One of Benjamin’s friends was hit with a police baton so hard that she lost parts of her memory.

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And in his biography The Life and Rhymes of Benhamin Zephaniah, Benjamin recalls someone taking a photo of him struggling while being arrested. Benjamin later tried to find this photograph but was unable to track it down.

With his nose bleeding and his arms forced behind his back, Benjamin was forced into a police van where he was beaten even more, while hidden from public view. They even ripped out a few of his dreadlocks and kept it as a trophy.

Just like the current day, these were politically charged times and Benjamin was right in the thick of it all. These events would further refine his message, as he set out to unify and empower as many people as possible.

How Benjamin Zephaniah Published His Works

Performing locally during open mic nights was swell, but Benjamin knew that to really get his work to spread, he needed to get his poetry published. This was no easy task, even back in the late 70s and early 80s.

At first, he would try the traditional method of posting his poetry to publishers with a cover letter attached. This got little to no traction, so Benjamin opted to turn up at the publisher’s doorstep so he could perform the poetry if required. He knew the poems would connect with his audience better if he had the opportunity to perform them.

This approach earned him many confused looks. People would treat him as if he was deranged. Some went as far as to tell him that they don’t publish Rastafarian poetry.

This was an era when black poetry just wasn’t something that was pushed to the public. There was no data for its performance, so most publishers wouldn’t take the risk of publishing someone unknown like Benjamin at the time.

Luckily, he found luck when someone recommended he visit a bookshop in Stratford called The Whole Thing. The Whole Thing was known as an alternative bookshop, which sold gay, feminist, Irish and black publications. But beyond that, they also published their own books. They were what we know now as Independent Publishers.

They read Benjamin’s poems and told him right on the spot that they’d like to publish him. But there was a caveat. They weren’t the type of publishers who took an author’s work and made it publishable themselves because they lacked the same number of staff as a traditional publisher. This meant that Benjamin would have to collaborate throughout the publishing process with them, taking a hands-on role in the publishing process. Benjamin agreed without hesitation.

For weeks, Benjamin would work on the layout of the book and format his poems onto the pages. He would then bind the book together once they had every page crafted.

Then, in 1980, after Benjamin Zephaniah had been in London for two years, he successfully published his first book, Pen Rhythm. It was a thin book, only slightly thicker than a booklet, but Benjamin had done it. He’d published his work, and learned all about bookmaking during the process.

He was told that Pen Rhythm was well received, but he had no way of knowing this for sure, until he got an unsuspecting visit three months later.

Benjamin was visited by an independent filmmaker at the bookshop who went by the name Simon Heaven. Simon told him about a new TV station that was launching, with a focus on making films about marginalised and minority communities. That station was to be known as Channel 4.

Simon was commissioned by the station to create a number of documentaries based on alternative poets, and Benjamin was at the top of his list. Benjamin agreed, but he was very nervous about the idea.

Benjamin found out first-hand how much self-censorship and correctness happened within the British media, as the producers found his message raw and unfiltered. They would ask him a number of times to repeat the things he said in a more general way. In the documentary, he would speak about topics relating to African countries under the control of other nations, and the conflicts with Catholics in Northan Island.

Originally, the documentary was to be a part of a series. But Benjamin’s appearance was so impactful that it ended up becoming its own original production. For those curious, you can find the documentary online right now.

Benjamin Zephaniah would publish many poetry compilations throughout his career. Because his early compilations like Pen Rhythm and The Dread Affair were independently published in small volumes, they are rare and hard to come by today. However, Benjamin would later sign deals with major publishers where he would republish some of the poems in new compilations. Notable compilations that you can buy today include Talking Turkeys, City Psalms, Too Black Too Strong, and School’s Out for the youths.

Winning the Young Playwright of the Year Award from the BBC

With his grassroots success giving him a newfound confidence, Benjamin would flex his newly discovered writing muscles in a number of ways. He got into writing for theatre in 1985 after his friend Derek Brown suggested he get into writing for youth theatre. Benjamin had previously never set foot inside a theatre, until he saw the play Welcome Home Jacko at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Inspired by the play, Benjamin wrote Playing The Right Time, a play he wrote for young people with the intention of tying in Nelson Mandela related themes. At the time, Benjamin Zephaniah was invested in Nelson Mandela’s freedom. Playing The Right Time would get a significant run, playing at the Theatre Royal, and the Riverside in Hammersmith.

His next play was Job Rocking in 1987, a dub opera play that showcases the realities of a Job Centre under Margeret Thatcher’s rule. As the play emphasised the lack of opportunities for minorities and common folk, the play would continue to be relevant for decades, and even today its themes remain relevant with the bleak opportunities we face in modern Britain.

In 1988 Benjamin won the BBC Young Playwright of the Year award for his work, a significant achievement for him while he was still under 30 years old. Off the back of this accomplishment, a producer named Jeremy Mortimer encouraged Benjamin to write a novel.

How Benjamin Zephaniah Got Into Writing Fiction

At the time, he had been working with an editor at Puffin named Emma who worked with him to publish his poems previously. Emma later switched to Bloomsbury and asked Benjamin if he’d ever considered writing a novel for teenagers. The timing aligned perfectly for him. The only problem was, Benjamin was unsure whether he really had it in him to write a full novel. He was a poet, not a novelist. And although he clearly possessed the creativity needed to write a novel, it was still a unique process.

Benjamin went back to Emma and told her: “I’m a poet, not a novelist. I write poems, not novels.”

Emma smiled. Believing in his capabilities, she replied: “Okay, Benjamin, here’s a cheque. Go away, write a couple of chapters, and if it doesn’t work out, don’t worry, keep the money and forget it. But you like what you’ve done, then carry on.”

Benjamin had nothing else going on at the time so he decided to give it a try. By now, he had a notable reputation for his work in activism. The messaging in his work was respected. But Benjamin wanted to do something different with this project. Instead of basing it on racial or sexual discrimination like his other works, he came up with a concept centered on facial discrimination.

This is how the story Face was born. The story is about a good-looking 14 year old white boy named Martin who wants to be an actor and model. Martin has everything going for him until he suffers severe injuries in a car crash and is terribly scarred. Then his path changes forever. His face is no-longer desired in the acting world and no modelling agents will hire him. Even his friends change. Martin goes on a journey of self-discovery where he learns why it’s important not to judge people by their looks.

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Both Emma and the publisher were pleased with the manuscript. And Face would go on to see satisfying sales. The media compared Benjamin to big names in children’s literature, and readers would start demanding more work from him. Emma suggested that Benjamin get an agent when he began work on his second novel, Refugee Boy.

Refugee Boy tells the story from the perspective of a 15 year old refugee from Ethiopia. It focuses on the struggles and realities of a teenager merging into the new realities of British life after escaping the atrocities of war. This is another culturally relevant book today. Benjamin would go on to write more novels, including Gangsta Rap.

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Gangsta Rap is the story of a young boy named Ray who loses faith in school and the system. He has nowhere to stay and ends up sleeping in the local record shop. While there, he develops his love for music, coming up with rap records. His friend Marga Man gets Ray a record deal, but a group of rap rivals dislike Ray’s success, and gang warfare is the only way they see to get back at him. It’s a touching story, and this was my first experience with Benjamin’s work in 2004.

Gangsta Rap by Benjamin Zephaniah

Meeting Nelson Mandela

Benjamin’s activism would take him many places, and after partnering with the British council, he would tour in notable places around the world, like Palestine and parts of Africa. As I mentioned earlier, Benjamin was always invested in Nelson Mandela’s freedom, after Mandela was wrongfully imprisoned due to racial segregation and apartheid in South Africa.

On February 1990, Nelson Mandela was freed from prison after 27 years. Benjamin watched his walk to freedom on TV like many others at the time. Months later, Benjamin would actually get the chance to meet Mandela in person, and too his surprise, it was Mandela who asked to meet him.

Mandela came to England on the 16^th of April 1990 to attend a concert being held in his honour. During his time here, he would make the rounds, meeting with notable people like royalty and elected officials. Benjamin Zephaniah would receive a message telling him that Mandela wanted to meet with him.

Mandela requested that they meet at a ridiculously early time in the morning, but Benjamin made the effort to attend, driving to central London to meet him. Benjamin couldn’t believe the amount of praise Mandela was offering him during their meeting. It was to the point that Benjamin had to remind Mandela that he’s the one who spent 27 years in prison unjustly and is now an icon.

The two talked for half an hour about many topics. Like those who were once pro-apartheid now celebrating Mandela’s release to save face. Mandela would also confirm to Benjamin that he had read his poetry while in prison, and that was why he was interested in meeting him.

An Accomplished Life

Here was Benjamin Zephaniah, once a humble boy from Handsworth, Birmingham, now shaking hands with one of the most famous men on the planet at the time, and having his own work and accomplishments validated.

Benjamin’s work often spoke directly about the injustices that Mandela was forced to endure. And it’s wonderful to see that his words had an impact on those directly affected by the themes he brought to light.

At one point, Benjamin turned down an OBE offered to him while Britian was under Tony Blair’s regime. It’s a UK royal honour, one that many would be proud of accepting. But Benjamin couldn’t bring himself to accept it with his beliefs. He wouldn’t push aside what he stood on to be honoured by a system he knew had created problems for people all around the world. The UK was at war with the middle east at the time, something Benjamin firmly opposed. Benjamin was attacked publicly after refusing the honour, but the community at large would support him and reject the slander.

This was who Benjamin was. He was a humble man who took the gift he had and homed in on it, transforming himself into one of Britain’s most important voices in activism and social change.

Benjamin accomplished many things through his career: He made records with The Wailers, the band founded by Bob Marley. This was after Bob Marley’s death in 1981. To think, Benjamin was once inspired by the words that Bob Marley wrote to him, and now he’d done work with Benjamin’s own band. Benjamin’s inspirations would often come full circle, just like his collaboration with The Wailers, and his meeting with Nelson Mandela.

Later in life, he was invited for a residency in Liverpool, after rebelling against a hit piece written about Benjamin in The Sun newspaper. When Benjamin was invited to be a don at Cambridge University, The Sun ran an article asking why anyone would let Benjamin near their child. The article framed him as a vile Rastafarian, using some of his poetry against him by separating the words from their context.

Thankfully, the people rallied against The Sun, forcing them to later apologize. The people of Liverpool defended Benjamin and invited him for the residency where he did performances, spoke at schools and ran an open house where writers could connect with him any time during the day.

Benjamin would then later serve as a professor of poetry at Brunel University, and he also joined the cast of Peaky Blinders, appearing in 14 episodes. His was a life full of accomplishments.

Benjamin married twice in his lifetime. Once to a woman he met in Liverpool named Amina. After being divorced, he later married Qian-Chien Jang Zheng, who he met on a visit to China.

The Death of Benjamin Zephaniah

On the 7^th of December, 2023, the world lost Benjamin Zephaniah when he died from a brain tumour that had been diagnosed eight weeks prior. Benjamin may have transcended, but the work he’s done for the past 40 years has led to many conscious awakenings in Britain, specifically on topics of racism, corruption, veganism and sexual abuse.

Poet and criminologist Martin Glynn spoke on Benjamin’s impact on poetry after his passing, giving a plausible summary of his importance:

Zephaniah was “never an establishment person”, but “got into spaces” where he felt he could be heard. Glynn said: “He was the James Brown of dub poetry, the godfather… Linton Kwesi Johnson spoke to the political classes, but Benjamin was a humanist, he made poetry popular and loved music. He had his own studio…. He did what John Cooper Clarke did with poetry and that was bringing it into the mainstream.”

Benjamin was a man who felt deeply about the injustices of the world and used poetry as his way of fighting back and communicating with the world at large. When fame came his way, he never fed into it and indulged in the celebrity lifestyle. Instead, he gave back to the various communities around Britain that embraced him. Becoming a beacon of love. One Love.

One Love is a Rastafari message made popular by Bob Marley. It means unity, universal love, and respect for all people.

As Benjamin Zephaniah said himself:

“I would like to be remembered as someone who really believed in One Love.”

Links & References

Books

• Pen Rhythm (1980), Page One
• The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985), Arena
• Rasta time in Palestine (1990), Shakti Publishing Ltd.
• City Psalms (1992)
• Inna Liverpool (1992)
• Talking Turkeys (1994)
• Propa Propaganda (1996)
• Funky Chickens (1997), Puffin
• School’s Out: Poems Not for School (1997)
• Funky Turkeys (audiobook) (1999), Puffin
• Wicked World! (2000), Puffin Random House
• Too Black, Too Strong (2001)
• The Little Book of Vegan Poems (2001)
• Reggae Head (2006), spoken word audio CD
• To Do Wid Me (2013), Bloodaxe Books

• Face (1999), Bloomsbury
• Refugee Boy (2001), Bloomsbury
• Gangsta Rap (2004), Bloomsbury
• Teacher’s Dead (2007), Bloomsbury
• Terror Kid (2014), Bloomsbury
• Windrush Child (2020), Scholastic
• The Life And Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah (2018)

References

Official Benjamin Zephaniah website

Rock Against Racism

A while back, we published an author biography about Sarah J. Maas. The biography covered her writing origins, creating Throne of Glass, Acotar, and Crescent City, and Maas’ writing schedule. This biography aims to show what it takes to become a successful author. These author stories tend to serve as inspiration for other writers.

Now the Sarah J. Maas biography is available in video format too. In 2024, Redital aims to produce more video content. And with the upcoming release of Crescent City: House of Flame and Shadow, it’s a good time to release our Sarah J. Maas video.

Check out the video, and be on the look out for more author documentaries soon!

But what are the origins of his writing journey? Today, we dive deeper into the life and times of Haruki Murakami.

The Origins of Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan during the post-World War II baby boom in 1949. Murakami is an only child, raised in Nishinomiya, Ashiya, and Kobe. Growing up, Murakami inherited his father’s traumas from the war, as his father served in the Japanese army. In later years, his father would pray every day for the lives that were lost during the war.

Murakami once overheard a story from his father about Japanese soldiers decapitating Chinese captives. Murakami was haunted by the visions of his father’s story for a long time, and couldn’t recall whether his father had told the story from the viewpoint of carrying out the decapitation, or as someone who witnessed it. Determined to learn more about his father’s role in the war, Murakami later dug into the family history and was relieved to find out that his father wasn’t part of the documented Nankin massacre. The event involved a six-week mass murder of Chinese civilians in 1937, carried out by the Japanese army.

Being an only child, Murakami deeply internalized his father’s PTSD and trauma from the war. His father’s trauma became his trauma. And this deeply affected how Murakami came to process the world around him.

Despite this, Murakami had many distractions during his upbringing. He was deeply immersed in Western culture. He enjoyed Russian and American music and had a thirst for Western literature. Some of his favourite Western authors include Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, and Franz Kafka. His taste for Western literature would later give birth to his unique style of writing.

Meeting his Wife Yoko

Murakami went on to study theater arts at Waseda University in Tokyo. And it was here where he met Yoko. The two of them were students in the same class. For a long time, Murakami and Yoko would swap knowledge with one another.

Murakami didn’t know it then, but Yoko would end up becoming his wife. Haruki Murakami and Yoko would marry in 1971. Together, they made the decision to not have children. He later related this decision to the guilt he felt about his bloodline, due to the fact that his father had participated in atrocities against China.

In Murakami’s writing memoir Novelist as a Vocation, he talks about how Yoko is an essential part of his editing process. She is always the first to read his work and give feedback. Having his wife proofread his work only makes it more powerful. Her perspective is greatly valued.

Murakami’s days as a jazz club owner

Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami would make a bold move and open his own coffee house and Jazz bar in 1974. The club was called Peter Cat, and he and Yoko would run the business together.

Murakami’s love of Jazz would grow deeper, as he collected many classic Jazz vinyl records for his club. He would sit and absorb the music for hours and think deeply about life. He often observed his customers and thought about the lives they lived. At times he would immerse himself in a novel while playing Jazz in the background, creating the perfect euphoric ambiance. He was gradually developing the mind of an artist, but his only focus was running his club. Murakami was not a creator yet.

Murakami would run the Jazz Club from 1974 to 1981. The music still plays a huge part in his life today, as he hosts a live radio broadcast on Tokyo FM once a month. He was once limited to the customers who turned up in his cafe, but now he gets to share his love of the music with the world.

The moment it all changed. Murakami becomes an author.

One incredible moment would spark Haruki Murakami’s desire to write. He previously had no desire to pick up a pen. But one eventful day would become his calling. In April 1978, Haruki Murakami was watching a baseball game with his wife. The Yakult Swallows were facing the Hiroshima Carp, and one of the U.S born players, Dave Hilton, hit the ball way out into the left field. As the ball flew through the air, an incredible realization materialized in Murakami’s head. He realized in that moment that he could write a novel. He described this moment as a warm sensation that he could feel in his heart.

“It was very strange,” Murakami says about this event. “My customers didn’t believe it. My wife was so surprised. I had no ambition to be a writer because the books I read were too good, my standards were too high. But that’s what happened. I bought pens and papers and started to write that day.”

Murakami worked on Hear the Wind Sing for ten months in brief stretches during the night after working at the bar. When he completed the story, he sent it to a literary contest and won the first-place prize. This out-of-the-gate success encouraged him to continue writing.

Murakami’s early successes

Haruki Murakami’s success with Hear the Wind Sing encouraged him to continue writing. The story follows the life and times of an unnamed narrator as he struggles with his writing. He begins telling the story of when he was a student, which leads to some captivating stories involving himself and his friend The Rat.

Murakami chose to continue writing about his unnamed protagonist in his next two works, forming what would become the Trilogy of The Rat. The second book, Pinball, 1973 would release in 1980, and it contains themes of loneliness, companionship, and destiny.

In 1981, Murakami co-wrote an unrelated short story collection called Yume de Aimashou with author Shigesato Itoi. But in 1982, Haruki Murakami would write the third book in The Rat trilogy, and this book would become critically acclaimed. That book was A Wild Sheep Chase.

A Wild Sheep Chase adds layers of complexity to Haruki’s storytelling. This is perhaps the book that gave birth to his famed ambiguous style of writing that leads much up to the imagination. The book is a quasi-detective tale where the narrator is sent a photo from his long-lost friend The Rat. The narrator publishes this photo—which includes a photo of a mutated sheep with a star on its back—and is contacted by a representative of The Boss, a revered Japanese figure. The Boss’ secretary tells him that his agency must immediately cease publication of the photo. He is then threatened and given an ultimatum to find the sheep or face dire consequences. This sets off a chain of engrossing events that encapsulate an array of emotions throughout the book’s journey.

This book allowed readers to fall in love with Murakami’s unorthodox style of writing in which resolution is less of a priority. It’s the emotional experience that the story presents that is his true gift. The art is in the journey the characters take, and how they reflect on relatable aspects of life. His writing is known for its surreal, dreamlike quality and its themes of alienation and loss.

Other celebrated titles from Haruki Murakami

Following on from his success with The Trilogy of the Rat, Murakami published Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World in 1985. The book pushes the magical realism aspect of his writing further, being set in a surreal version of Tokyo. The book features a character known as a Dreamreader, who can interpret people’s dreams.

Murakami would see major breakthrough success when he published Norwegian Wood in 1987. Norwegian Wood tells the story of a college student named Toru Watanabe who is torn between his love for two women. The book is set in 1060s Tokyo and holds themes of love, loss, and mental health. The book also touches on the cultural and political changes in Japan during the 1960s, showing how these changes affect the lives of people. Following the release of Norwegian Wood, the previously unknown Murakami would be mobbed by fans at airports.

In 1995, Murakami would release The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, a story about Toru Okada who is trying to locate his missing wife and cat. This sends him down a surreal path where he begins to discover a web of lies and secrets that connect his ordinary life to the violent history of Japan. It is one of Murakami’s most socially conscious works up til this point in his career. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle won Murakami The Yomiuri Prize for Literature.

Haruki Murakami had spent a number of years traveling Europe and the United States. In January 1995, the Great Hanshin Earthquake shook the region of Hanshin in Japan. A few months later, The Tokyo subway sarin attack took place in Tokyo. In order to come to terms with these events, Murakami wrote his first non-fiction bodies of work titled Underground and After the Quake. Underground consists of interviews of victims of the gas attack.

Sputnik Sweetheart was released in 1999. Followed by another of Murakami’s beloved classics, Kafka on the Shore in 2002. Kafka on the Shore follows two parallel plots: one involving teenager Kafka Tamura and one involving Nakata, an elderly man with the ability to talk to cats. The lives of Kafka and Nakata intersect in strange and unsuspected ways as the book explores themes of identity and fate. It’s a complex and multi-layered novel with many elements at play.

More of Murakami’s works are listed below.

The importance of running in Haruki Murakami’s life

Haruki Murakami is an experienced marathon runner. He started running at the age of 33 as a way to stay healthy despite the hours he spent sitting down and working. Not only does running have serious health benefits, but running each day also provides the repetitive structure and mental fortitude needed to write and publish so many books. Taking up this new habit also pushed him to quit smoking.

Building a new pattern of life for himself, Murakami would follow a set daily routine of waking up before 5 a.m. and going to bed before 10 p.m. When he is actively working on a piece of writing, he wakes up at 4 a.m. and writes for five to six hours. He follows his writing with ten kilometers of running and/or fifteen hundred meters of swimming. He then reads and listens to music for the rest of his evening.

Murakami has followed this routine religiously. Citing that it has also ruined some relationships with friends who don’t understand why he turns down their invitations. His defense is that he also has a responsibility to satisfy his millions of readers around the world, and this routine is what allows him to keep doing it.

Running is an intensely physical activity, whereas writing is a test of the mind. For some, it might not be obvious to see how one affects the other. Some may wonder how the act of running can aid writing consistency. When asked about this, Murakami said that to be able to write every day for three years, you have to be physically strong. “Physically and mentally you have to be strong.”

In an interview with The Guardian, he went on to give a profound metaphor about how his running gives him the strength to open the big, heavy door to go into that other room.

It’s clear that to have the type of career that Murakami has had, sacrifices must be made. A writer of this magnitude is likely unable to binge 12-hour shows on Netflix and go clubbing every Friday. Not to say that it can’t happen, but churning out this many quality books shows a form of mental discipline that must be worked hard on to achieve.

Murakami describes his relationship with running extensively in his memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

Novelist as a Vocation / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Haruki Murakami’s writing style proves that less is more

Many see perfect prose as an amalgamation of complex wording and phrasing that paints a picture. And while many wordsmiths can produce impressive sentences out of obscure words, Murakami instead focuses on simplicity with his word choices. He is able to do more with less. He has mastered writing with clarity whilst simultaneously conveying a number of emotions. In his latest memoir offering, Novelist as a Vocation, Murakami describes how he first developed his unique style while writing Hear the Wind Sing.

After struggling to come up with something satisfying, Murakami decided to write the opening of his story in English. He admits that his English composition was limited by his vocabulary at the time as he didn’t have the best grasp of English syntax. “I could only write in short, simple sentences.”

But instead of scrapping the page, like the ones he had already scrapped before it, Murakami analyzed his text further. He noted that in writing like this, the language had to be simple. And that however complex and numerous the thoughts that ran through his head were, they had to be summarised in an easy-to-digest format. It led him to the realization that he could express his thoughts and feelings with a limited set of words, as long as he could combine and link them together in a skillful manner.

Murakami then took his English composition and translated it back into Japanese, forming his own brand of Japanese prose that was unique from traditional Japanese fiction writing. Murakami would continue to write Hear the Wind Sing in his new Japanese voice. It set the foundations for what became his globally recognized style.

Haruki Murakami also works as a translator. Translating both his own works into English and the works of various beloved authors into Japanese. Murakami is closely involved in translations of his work into English, encouraging adaptations of his texts to be inclusive of Western realities, rather than being a direct word-for-word translation.

If you’ve read a body of work by Haruki Murakami then you’ll understand the man’s gift of being able to make you feel something deeply without many convolutions of words. Whether positive or negative, the emotions seem to radiate off of the page itself.

The stories just flow, giving readers a new lens through which to look at life and its many complexities.

Haruki Murakami Bibliography

Novels

Hear the Wind Sing / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Pinball, 1973 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

A Wild Sheep Chase / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Norwegian Wood / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Dance Dance Dance / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

South of the Border, West of the Sun / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Sputnik Sweetheart / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Kafka on the Shore / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

After Dark / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

1Q84 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Killing Commendatore / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Short Stories

Yume de Aimashou /

The Elephant Vanishes / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

After the Quake / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Men Without Women / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

First Person Singular / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Non-fiction

Underground / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Haruki Murakami Goes to Meet Hayao Kawai / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Novelist as a Vocation / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Links

Haruki Murakami website

References

The Running Novelist (The New Yorker)

Haruki Murakami: ‘I took a gamble and survived’ (The Guardian)

Murakami – Famous Authors

Dark master of a dream world

Nikkei Asia interviews Murakami about life as a DJ

The origins of Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J. Maas was born in New York City on March 5, 1986. She grew up in the Upper West Side, where she had access to some interesting historical exhibitions at the local museums. One of her favourite natural history exhibitions was the one about the Temple of Dendur.

This temple is an Ancient Egyptian temple built by the Roman governor of Egypt around 15 BC, as one of many Egyptian temples commissioned by the emperor Augustus. This structure could have been one of the many devices to fuel young Sarah’s imagination.

Maas’ parents had a love for opera, and by extension, she grew a love for both opera and ballet. They were healthy interests for her young, developing mind.

And it was at Dalton High School where she showed signs of who she would become. She began to show her storytelling talents at school by coming up with alternate versions of popular stories in her draft notebooks.

This was around the time she began to develop the first increments of what would later become Throne of Glass. At sixteen years of age, she thought about an alternate reality for a character like Cinderella, where she was an assassin instead of a servant. By continuing down this rabbit-hole of creative thinking, Maas molded the idea into her own unique story.

Before Maas could think about publishing her stories, she had an academic career to get through. She enrolled in Hamilton College, where she studied creative writing as her major and religious studies as a minor. Some would say this is a risky path to take in college, as the creative writing degree is very rarely used for what it’s romanticized for. But Maaas’ extensive passion for writing and her determination to work towards her dream allowed her to graduate magna cum laude.

During her freshman year of college, Maas met (her now husband) Josh. When they graduated, they decided to move across the country to California to start their lives together. At this time they were already engaged. Josh was always supportive of Sarah’s writing, something a writer could only hope for in a partner.

Maas faced judgement over writing fantasy

While attending Dalton, Sarah took part in a creative writing workshop. The class was headed by a traditionalist teacher who preached about selling copies of books out the trunk of their car. Maas submitted the first draft of some other fantasy book she had been working on to be discussed during the class.

Unfortunately, the teacher decided to spend an entire forty-five minutes ranting about how fantasy fiction isn’t real fiction and is completely meaningless. The teacher went on to call other fantasy authors “hacks”. She completely ripped into the genre of writing that Maas was so passionate about, and this made her want to avoid taking writing classes for years until she took up her major. Maas did not let this negative experience stop her. It only intensified the burning passion within. She was determined to prove that fantasy could touch readers the same way traditionalist fiction did.

Throne of Glass

Queen of Glass was the original name of Maas’ debut novel. The mid-to-late 2000’s was the beginning of the Web 2.0 boom, when the internet was finding its way into more users’ hands. All thanks to technology like Blackberry and the iPhone.

Sarah J. Maas began publishing rough drafts of her story on Fictionpress.com. And over the course of time, it became one of the most popular stories on the site with close to seven thousand reviews.

Many times, writers are stuck in a cloud of self-doubt, wondering if their writing is even good enough to share with the world. But the buzz that Maas generated online was enough validation of her hard work.

Maas started sending the story to agents before signing with Tamar Rydzinski of The Laura Dial Literary Agency in 2009. And then, in March 2010, Queen of Glass officially became Throne of Glass. The book was published and well-received, resulting in Bloomsbury purchasing two additional books in the series. Eventually, the entire series would span eight books including a prequel collection.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

To this day, the A Court of Thorns and Roses series occupies the top shelf on my bookshelf. That’s the shelf I reserve for my favourite reads. ACOTAR is the series that reeled me in to the world of Maas.

Maas had already written the first book in this series back in 2009, but the book would not be published until 2015. Just like how Throne of Glass takes inspiration from Cinderella, A Court of Thorns and Roses is inspired by Beauty and the Beast. The story follows Feyre Archeron after she is brought into the faerie lands of Prythian for murdering a faerie disguised as a wolf in the woods. Feyre learns that her captor is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Their animosity for one another soon turns to passion, as Feyre learns the truth about Tamlin’s struggles.

The ACOTAR series is known for its steamy love scenes that sometimes cause confusion for those under the assumption that the books are YA. This series probably best suits the New Adult category for the simple fact that it’s saucier than the Throne of Glass series.

Currently, the series spans five books (A Court of Mist and Fury being my favourite) and there is a series based on the books in the works for Hulu. It’s an incredible feat that Maas is able to work on two lengthy series at the same time. She was also working on scripts for the TV show and a collaboration with DC Comics for a Catwoman novel.

Crescent City

When I learned that Sarah J. Maas was working on an adult fantasy series, I was thrilled. House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City is Maas’ third fantasy series.

After spending half her life working on Throne of Glass, creating a brand-new world presented many new creative challenges for Maas. But no challenge is too grand for wild imagination. Maas had dedicated her entire life to writing at this point, and she would bring alive the story that was floating around in her mind for years.

When asked by Christina Orlando at Tor Books about how different it was starting Crescent City, Sarah J. Maas said the following.

“With Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses, I had the luxury of years of letting those books sit and figuring out what I wanted to do with them, so I could really plan the twists and turns and revelations. But with this one I don’t have all those years, I need to be smart and figure out what I really want to happen.“

Although writing Crescent City took some planning, Sarah J. Maas was able to lean into her experiences growing up in New York City while writing the book, as protagonist Bryce Quinlan lives in a modern metropolitan city. Crescent City is an urban fantasy, and that means many of the technological systems in place didn’t need to be explained. Instead, Maas focused heavily on the magic, lore, and relationships between the characters.

House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City was released on March 3rd, 2020, and for me, it was the perfect escapism during the early weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown. It was well-received and it was ranked one of the top twenty Science Fiction & Fantasy books of 2020 on Kobo. The sequel, House of Sky and Breath, is set for release on February 15th, 2022.

Sarah J. Maas’ writing routine

Even before becoming a full-time writer, Maas was locking herself away to pound out words. But now that she has publishers and TV studios buying her works, it’s even more important to have a solid writing schedule in place.

The typical writing day in Sarah J. Maas’ life consists of waking up and preparing breakfast. Her favourite breakfast is English tea, a glass of ice water, a glass of freshly-squeezed juice, and a few slices of turkey bacon. After breakfast, she then focuses on her administrative tasks, which, to a full-time writer is considered the actual work part of the day.

With all of the important admin tasks out the way, Maas is free to lock herself away in her nest for hours—sometimes twelve—and write her heart out. On an episode of 88 Cups of Tea, Maas revealed that she managed to pump out over 18,000 words in one session. This is completely insane considering that my mind turns to mush after writing just 2000 words in one sitting.

Maas likes to keep some form of composition notebook on her desk. She uses this notebook to brainstorm ideas or work out the kinks if she gets stuck.

Sarah J. Maas’ inspirations

Author stories are inspiring. Especially when learning about the sacrifices made in order to produce such great work. But what’s also intriguing is to learn about who or what inspires the author.

In numerous interviews, Maas has expressed how inspired she is by pieces of music. She has even created Spotify playlists to share the music that helped create her books.

In an interview with Steph Bowe, Maas said the following:

Music. All kinds of music, but especially classical and movie scores. Every scene I’ve written was inspired by some piece or another, and listening to music often helps me sort out plot problems, build character arcs, and connect to the soul of my book.

But although music has such a big influence on her writing, like all writers, Maas also takes some inspiration from fellow authors. Some of these names include Suzanne Collins, Garth Nix, Robin McKinley, J.K Rowling and Patricia A. McKillip.

Sarah J. Maas is proof that hard work and dedication pays off

To many onlookers, it can feel like highly successful authors are people of privilege. Some might think these people are chosen, or that their connections allow them to reach the heights of success. But after following Maas’ career for some time, I can see she is humble in her success. This is something she has worked towards since her teenage years.

It’s one thing to dream of being a writer. It’s another thing to park your butt in that seat and show up time and time again to finish your stories. Sarah J. Maas had the passion to do this early on. Sometimes going to the extent of sacrificing her social life to work on her ideas.

She was brave enough to share her work in the creative writing workshop that day. And when her teacher ranted about how fantasy isn’t real storytelling, this only fired up Maas even more. She believed so much in what she was doing that she didn’t let what someone said stop her. This is the drive needed to keep improving. And it’s those improvements that separated Maas from other inspiring writers.

Sharing her work online to thousands of unknown readers was another bold move. The internet has no shortage of people willing to dish out harsh critiques. Publishing your work on Fictionpress for free was a big risk that paid off. And it’s taking risks that pushes people further along in life. Maas’ work was so well received that she was filled with the reassurance that Throne of Glass was a story that needed to be professionally published.

Sarah J. Maas has earned her success. And her style is distinct to the point that she provides experiences that you can only get from her. When Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses blew up on the market, I saw countless other books with the words “Thornes”, “Court” or “Throne” in the title. Maas set trends that changed the entire YA fantasy market for a period of time, just as Hunger Games did before her in the YA dystopian market.

And what’s even more alluring about her brand, is her affinity and openness with her fans. Watching Maas and her husband Josh hop on live streams and interact with the fans is a warm experience.

Maas’ author brand has been an inspiration for many years. And these are the reasons why I decided to make her my first author biography.

Sarah J. Mass Bibliography

Novels

• Throne of Glass – 2012 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• Crown of Midnight – 2013 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• Heir of Fire – 2014 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• A Court of Throns and Roses – 2015 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• Queen of Shadows – 2015 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• A Court of Mist & Fury – 2016 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• Empire of Storms – 2016 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• A Court of Wings and Ruin – 2017 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• Tower of Dawn – 2017 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• A Court of Frost and Starlight – 2018 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• Soulstealer (Catwoman) – 2018 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• Kingdom of Ash – 2018 / Amzon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• House of Earth and Blood – 2020 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• A Court of Silver Flames – 2021 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop
• House of Sky and Breath -2022 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Collections

Assassin’s Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas – 2014 / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookshop

Links

Sarah J. Maas Official Website

Sarah J. Maas Bloomsbury Profile

References

Wikipedia

Famous People Today

Abackwardsstory: Interview with Sarah J. Maas (2012)

Stephbowe.com: Interview with Sarah J. Maas (2009)

88 Cups of Tea Interview with Sarah J. Maas (2016)

Christina Orlando interviews Sarah J. Maas for Tor Books

I Tried Writing Like Sarah J Maas by Sarah Lubratt