|  Author
and poet Benjamin Zephaniah has been shortlisted for the
Channel Four Political personality of the year.
The other people nominated for the award are politicians
Tony Blair, Robin Cook and George Galloway, the late Dr
David Kelly and father's rights protestor David Chick.
The shortlist was made up from nominations from the public
who were asked to vote for the person they felt had made
the most influential contribution to British politics last
year.
Zephaniah was voted for largely because of his rejection
of an OBE last year. He cited the association of the award
with the British Empire as the reason for this.
In an article that appeared on the Guardian Website Zephaniah
wrote that "(empire) reminds me of slavery, it reminds
me of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of
how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised."
The public can now vote for the winner until Friday 23rd
January at noon. The result will be announced live on the
evening news on 10th February.
An exhibition of fifty photographs taken by Prodeepta Das
for Benjamin
Zephaniah's We
are Britain, a collection of poems about thirteen children
from all over the UK who represent 21st Century Britain,
(published by Frances Lincoln) opens at the Gallery Space,
The Central Library in Ilford on 26th February and runs
until 22nd March 2004.
Supported by the Arts Council of Great Britain, the exhibition
heralds the opening of the Redbridge Literature Festival
which runs from 12th - 22nd March. Prodeepta Das will take
part in a workshop, open to families in the Redbridge area,
on Saturday 20th March.
For further information about the festival contact: 020
8708 3044
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