Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born in Birmingham in 1958. He spent some of his early years in Jamaica and absorbed much of the island culture which was later to have a dramatic effect on his work.
At the age of 12, he was taken out of comprehensive school and sent to an approved school on the grounds that he was uncontrollable, rebellious and, as the teacher put it, "a born failure". Later, he would find out that he was dyslexic.
He was a troubled teenager and after approved school ended up in a couple of Her Majesty's institutions. After prison, aged 22, Benjamin moved to London. His first book for adults, Pen Rhythm, was published soon after.
There was a long gap before his second book as "I wanted to reach people who didn't read books, so I started performing with bands." His first collection for children, Talking Turkeys, was published in 1994. It had such an immediate impact that it was reprinted after just six weeks.
Millions of people know Benjamin's voice. He has given readings around the world, from Palestine to Argentina, as well as throughout Britain - in schools, colleges, youth clubs, prisons, theatres and music venues. A master of oral and performance art, he has released several records, including one with the Wailers.
He has presented, appeared in or been the subject of numerous TV programmes ranging from The South Bank Show to Eastenders; from The Tube to The Bill. In 1989, he was nominated for Oxford Professor of Poetry but was pipped to the post by Seamus Heaney.
From humble beginnings as a Hip-Hop DJ, Mister Gee honed his spoken word skills as the host of the renowned performance poetry club Brix-tongue and is now one of the stars of the UK poetry scene. He has performed at the New York Nuyorican Poets Café and the Black Lily night in Philadelphia (home to Jill Scott and the Roots), as well as at the Edinburgh Festival. He runs workshops in schools and his album Poetry in the Key of Gee was released to critical acclaim.
Mister Gee is a co-winner of a Sony Gold Award for Radio as the resident poet on the Russell Brand Show on BBC Radio 2, and is the resident poet of the hit West-End musical Into The Hoods.
From humble beginnings as a Hip-Hop DJ, Mister Gee honed his spoken word skills as the host of the renowned performance poetry club Brix-tongue and is now one of the stars of the UK poetry scene. He has performed at the New York Nuyorican Poets Café and the Black Lily night in Philadelphia (home to Jill Scott and the Roots), as well as at the Edinburgh Festival. He runs workshops in schools and his album Poetry in the Key of Gee was released to critical acclaim.