Levi Tafari is a British poet and performer. He was born and raised in the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

by his Jamaican parents. He attended catering college, where he studied classical French cuisine and graduated with distinction. In the early 1980s, while working as a caterer, he started attending the Liverpool 8 Writers Workshop and decided to become a performance poet. Tafari was a firm member of the

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

movement and although his early performances were in that community, he saw it as his duty to reach a wider audience and began performing overseas. Tafari self-identifies as an Urban

Griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

(the griot being the traditional consciousness raiser, storyteller, newscaster and political agitator). He has four collections of poetry: ''Duboetry'' (1987), ''Liverpool Experience'' (1989), ''Rhyme Don’t Pay'' (1998) and ''From the Page to the Stage'' (2006). His plays have been performed at the Blackheath Theater in

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

and the

Unity Theatre, Liverpool The Unity Theatre is a theatre in Liverpool, England. Formed by directors Gerry Dawson and Edgar Criddle as the Merseyside Left Theatre in the 1930s, the theatre became known as the Merseyside Unity Theatre in 1944. The company was known for b ...

. He was also the first person to use the term "duboetry." Several of his musical tracks can be found on compilation albums and he has recorded poetry, which has been released on audiocassette. Tafari often runs creative writing workshops at schools, colleges, universities and prisons. Most recently he has applied his work to working with the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

, undertaking tours to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. He was Writer in Residence at

Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

. He has also appeared in many television programs including ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

'' and ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

''. He also made a film about

for

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

's ''Everyman'' programme. In 2001, Tafari toured with scrap recycle band,

Urban Strawberry Lunch Urban Strawberry Lunch (USL) were an English, Liverpool based group and Community Arts organisation, who made music on everyday objects. Formed by Benjamin F Tin and Ambrose Reynolds in 1987, USL began making their own musical instruments after a ...

. He has also worked with the Ghanaian drum-and-dance ensemble Delado, the

Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmo ...

, jazz musician

Dennis Rollins Dennis Rollins, (born 1964) is an English jazz trombonist, the founder and bandleader of BadBone and Co. Early life and career Dennis George Rollins was born in Birmingham, England, of Jamaican parents, and raised in Bentley, Doncaster, where ...

, and his own reggae band, Ministry of Love. Currently, Tafari is preparing a new collection of poems, experimenting in the recording studio with new sounds along with guitarist Eiko Falckenberg and he continues to perform his work in venues across the globe. In early 2009, Tafari worked with children from

Elmgrove Primary School Elmgrove Primary School (Sometimes referred to as simply Elmgrove and originally known as Elmgrove Elementary School) is a state-controlled Primary School situated in East Belfast, Northern Ireland. It opened on 9 January 1933 as Elmgrove Elemen ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

for their live performance in

St George's Market St George's Market is the last surviving Victorian architecture, Victorian covered Marketplace, market in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located on May Street, close to the River Lagan and the Waterfront Hall. Belfast Corporation (now Belfast ...

. He attended the performance on 2 April 2009. In 2023, Tafari became a Citizen of Honour, which was awarded to him at Liverpool Town Hall by Lord Mayor, Cllr Roy Gladden.

Bibliography

*''Duboetry'' (1987) *''Liverpool Experience'' (1989) *''Rhyme Don't Pay'' (1998) *''From the Page to the Stage'' (2006) *''Party Mania'' (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tafari, Levi English male poets English people of Jamaican descent Living people Poets from Liverpool Year of birth missing (living people)