Benjamin Zephaniah is a pioneer of performance poetry. He has recorded albums, written plays for stage, radio and television, and writes poetry and novels for children, adults and teenagers.

How can reading transform lives?

If you feel alone because of personal problems, you can read how someone else overcame that. If you cannot travel but you need to understand how people on the other side of the world live, you can read about the lives of others. Scientists have written books to help you if you want to understand the world around us. If you want to smile, there are books to make you happy, and if you want liberation there are books to connect you with the ideas of great revolutionaries. Books saved my life, now they give me life.

Why did you decide to become an Ambassador for The Reading Agency?
I want to spread the good news. We need to read.