Benjamin Zephaniah talks ahead of World Book Day.

Could you tell us a bit about your book? What inspired you to write it?
Gangsta Rap is about a group of young people in east London who are not doing very well at school, but they get a chance to work on music and study maths, engineering, and team work in a recording studio. They become a successful Hip Hop band and them and their fans are sucked into a gang war with another band from West London.

I was inspired to write it because at the time there were lot of gang wars in British and American cities, some based of territories some based on music and the bands kids followed. I noticed that as bad as these gang wars were, a lot of the time people were making money from them, most of all record companies who use the angry young men image to sell their music.

How did you hear about World Book Day? What made you want to get involved?
I remember the first World Book Day and it was great because everyone was talking about books. On the street, in schools, and on TV. I always want people to know how great books are so when World Book Day started I thought it came to help me to do what I was always doing.

What inspired you to start writing? What was the first story you wrote?
I first started creating poetry a long time before I started writing it down. I was happy doing my poetry, but I used to talk a lot and a friend said I should write a novel. I wrote my first novel ‘Face’, and then I became a novelist.

What was your favourite book to share growing up?
I’m afraid there were no books in my house when I was growing up.

What’s your fondest memory of reading when you were a child?
I’m afraid I didn’t read books when I was a child. There were no books in the house, and even when I tried to read books at school it was difficult because I was dyslexic, but no one knew it at the time. So, it was difficult for me.

If you were to recommend one book to read this year, what would it be?
I’ve just read a book called Dear World by Bana Alabed. Bana is just 8 years old who writes about how she had to leave Syria because of the war, and how she survived as a refugee. We all have to learn from how the other half lives, and it means so much more when you learn so much from an eight-year-old girl.

If you could be any literary character in the world, who would it be and why?
I spend all my adult life trying to stay out of trouble, so I just want to be Denis The Menace for a while and do some naughty stuff.

What advice would you give to any budding writers on how to star twriting a book?
Don’t follow trends, be original, write from the heart and not for money. You’ll need money, but don’t let it be your motivation. One more thing, don’t forget to have a hobby, (or two), that has nothing at all to do with writing.

What do you think makes a good story?
An end, a middle, and a beginning.

Do you ever write about your home town? Or feel inspired by it?
All my books have been about my home town. Terror Kid is set in Birmingham where I was born, and all the others are set in east London where I lived for most of my life.

Do you always know what the ending will be when you start to write a book? How long does it normally take you to write one?
I normally have a good idea of how my books will end, but sometimes they change. Most of my books take about two years to write but this one is taking much longer because I keep going out and playing football. 

World Book Day takes place on Thursday 1 March.

For more information visit worldbookday.com