5. Pain

The celebrated poet Benjamin Zephaniah died in December 2023. As a tribute, Radio 4 is broadcasting the 2018 Book of the Week recording of his autobiography The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah.

As the writer flourishes, the man, now a husband, suffers at the cruel hands of infertility. Desperate to have a child and be a father, Zephaniah and his wife embark on IVF but as his career flies his belief in his ability to conceive comes to an end. That pain will never leave him, but he decides to take on the taboo and talk about it in his poems and his writings, opening the doors for other people's pain to be understood.

Written and read by Benjamin Zephaniah
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4