Birmingham has a wide and varied literary scene, from a thriving poetry network to a whole host of famous novelists. We are lucky enough to be the home city of a host of independent presses and journals, including the Pallina Press, The Emma Press, and Verve Poetry Press, meaning that a whole range of literary works are born into Birmingham. Here is a list of some of our favourite writers, based in, originating from or linked to the second city.
Benjamin Zephaniah
Starting off with an obvious literary legend, we have Benjamin Zephaniah, who grew up in the Handsworth district of Birmingham. Featured in The Times’ list of Top 50 post-war writers, Zephaniah has an impressive publication list, including poetry collections, novels, plays, and lots of books for children. He moved to London in 1980, publishing his debut poetry collection, ‘Pen Rhythm’, later that year. His work frequently touches on his Jamaican heritage, political injustice, love and nature, and his success is, in part, attributed to his impressive wordplay and the accessibility of his poetry.
His first collection for children, ‘Talking Turkeys’, went into emergency reprint due to its unexpected success, and he has appeared on the GCSE text list. He also starred as Jeremiah Jesus in Peaky Blinders and is a beloved Brummie icon.
Liz Berry
Another wonderful award-winning poet, who we couldn’t write this list without mentioning. Technically from the Black Country, but now living in Birmingham, Berry’s poetry is unapologetically West Midlands. She embraces Brummie and Black Country dialect, in works like ‘Birmingham Roller’ and ‘Homing’ (also featured on the GCSE syllabus) and has published three pamphlets and two full poetry collections.
Her most recent work, a novel in verse titled ‘The Home Child’, is a beautiful tribute to her great aunt, following a young girl’s journey from her West Midlands home to Nova Scotia. One of thousands of British children sent to Canada to work as indentured farm labourers and domestic servants, Eliza Showell’s story is emotionally moving and given a magical literary power by Berry’s language.
The beating heart of the current Birmingham poetry scene, Berry can often be found popping up to host literary events with other writers. I had the pleasure of meeting her at The Heath Bookshop, where she interviewed fellow Poet Amy Acre, and she was truly a delightful person – Birmingham is very lucky to have her.
David Edgar
A huge name on the literary scene, David Edgar is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a playwright who has had over sixty plays published and performed on radio, television or stage around the world. He has had more plays premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) than any other playwright and grew up watching the Shakespeare canon in Birmingham and Stratford-Upon-Avon. His RSC plays include Maydays (1983), Written on the Heart (2011) and The Shape of the Table (1990). His parents met on the stage door steps of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, so he is intrinsically linked with the theatre scene in the second city.
He regularly writes about art and politics for The Guardian, The London Review of Books and other journals, having spent time working as a journalist. He has also written a book, titled ‘How Plays Work’ (2009), about the art of playwriting. His works are known for their strong political content, and he regularly writes adaptations of canonical literature, with many of his plays based on the memoirs of titular characters, such as Dicken’s Nicholas Nickelby (1980), Julian Barnes’ Arthur and George (2010) and Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1991).
J.R.R Tolkien
Although he was born in South Africa, Tolkien grew up around Birmingham, after moving to the UK shortly after the death of his father. He spent many years living in Sarehole, a village in Hall Green, Birmingham (though historically in Worcestershire), and this village inspired ‘The Shire’ in his world-famous works, ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
Rumour has it that Old Joe, the world’s tallest freestanding clock tower located at the University of Birmingham, inspired Isengard and the Orthanc Tower, though we have no concrete evidence of this.
The rural Midlands countryside certainly had a profound impact on Tolkien in his sixteen-year stay in and around Birmingham, and as such, we as a city have adopted him as one of our own.
William Shakespeare
Again, this one is definitely cheating, but with the bard’s home being such a short journey away, in Stratford-Upon-Avon, he is intrinsically tied with the city of Birmingham. Less than an hour’s drive from the city centre to his birth and burial place, and one very easy train ride away, we’re close enough to claim Shakespeare as a local.
The University of Birmingham is paired with The Shakespeare Institute, and The Shakespeare Memorial room is a popular tourist destination at the top of the Library of Birmingham, as of 2013.
Birmingham is, in fact, the only city with a publicly owned edition of Shakespeare’s First Folio. It is the only existing copy bought as part of a dedicated programme to improve people’s lives through culture and education and is frequently used in events and tours intended to bring Shakespeare to people from all walks of life.
Malala Yousafzai
Also definitely cheating, but we’re counting Malala nonetheless. After becoming an international icon for insisting that girls should be educated and consequently being shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan, Malala was flown to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where she underwent a long surgery to save her life. Nine years later, Malala has referred to the city as ‘a second home’ and has shared her fondness for the wonderful Brummie accent, which she has got pretty good at replicating.
She attended Edgbaston High School, got married in 2021 in the second city, and has based a large portion of her life here. She has become a literary icon, having published ‘I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban’ in 2013, co-written with Christina Lamb. She has also written books for children, including ‘Malala’s Magic Pencil’ (2017) and ‘My Name is Malala’ (2022). In 2019, she wrote ‘We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World’. Her books share her inspiring story, and her work encourages young women to pursue education around the globe.
Malala may be from Pakistan, but we are very proud that she has chosen Birmingham as a second home, and like others on this list, we consider her an honorary Brummie.
Lee Child and Andrew Child
Again, technically author Lee Child (James Grant) was born in Coventry, but from the age of four until he left for university at eighteen, he called Handsworth Wood. We will choose to take it as a compliment that so many authors have moved to Birmingham!
Lee Child is a thriller novel writer, and most notably the co-writer of the Jack Reacher series, alongside his younger brother Andrew Child (Andrew Grant), who was indeed born in Birmingham. The Jack Reacher series has twenty-eight books as of 2023, and has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. Two of the novels have been adapted into films starring Tom Cruise as the eponymous Jack Reacher. Last year, ‘Reacher’ debuted as a television series, starring Alan Ritchson, and a second series is set to be released at the end of the year.
Lee Child also published his first work of nonfiction, titled ‘The Heroes’, in 2007. The book explores famous heroes, from Achilles to James Bond, showing how the age-old myth of the bravest heroes is an integral part of what makes humans human.
Jasmine Gardosi
We obviously couldn’t finish this list without mentioning our current Birmingham Poet Laureate, the brilliant Jasmine Gardosi. Gardosi was given the title in October 2022 and will serve as laureate until 2024. She made her first foray into print in 2019, with her debut pamphlet, Hurtz, published by Verve Poetry Press. The collection focuses on pain, equated to other forms of suffering and mapped onto the colour spectrum.
Her work explores mental health, LGBTQ+ issues and identity, and she is a slam poetry champion. Her poetry has appeared on Button Poetry, at Glastonbury Festival and the Tate Modern, and across BBC Radio. She was featured on Sky Arts’ ‘Life & Rhymes’. She has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, which was broadcast on BBC Four. She has worked as Writer in Residence at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, and she has also worked as Poet in Residence for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Gardosi runs school and community workshops around the country, and has recently been commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre to create ‘Dancing To Music You Hate’, her debut show exploring gender identity, which features poetry, beatboxing and Celtic dubstep. She is certainly multi-talented, and we’re excited to see what she gets up to in the rest of her time as our poet laureate.
