Following a period of ill health Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze passed away on the evening (EST) of 4th August 2021 in Jamaica at the age of 65.

Jean was an especially important part of our literary community in the UK and the Caribbean. Her body of writing and orality, and the warmth and connection she generated through her art, touched the hearts and minds of audiences around the world. We are in a state of shock and sadness, and we will be mourning her loss for some time.

Jean 'Binta' Breeze was an internationally-renowned poet.  She was born in Hanover, Jamaica. She first visited London to take part in the International Book Fair of Radical and Third World Books and she has been writing, performing and teaching ever since. She was the author of eight books of poems and stories, including Riddim Ravings and other poems, On the Edge of An Island, The Fifth Figure and Third World Girl: Selected Poems, most published by Bloodaxe Books. Her latest book, The Verandah Poems was published in 2016 (Bloodaxe Books), marking her 60th birthday, followed by an England book tour of the same name with Renaissance One, which was funded by Arts Council England.

A powerful performer, she has been called a ‘one-woman festival’. She was well known for her mastery of the ‘dub’ art form.  Jean was an honorary Creative Writing Fellow at the University of Leicester, and In 2017 she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters (D Litt) degree at the University of Leicester. In 2018, she received a lifetime achievement award from the Jamaican Poetry festival and a silver Musgrave medal from the Institute of Jamaica. She was awarded an M.B.E. for Services to Literature in 2012.

Her poem ‘Tweet Tweet’ was The Guardian’s Poem of the Week in 2017. You can read it here.

Represented by Renaissance One.