poet

The late writer and poet Benjamin Zephaniah will be the first recipient of a medal created to honour Birmingham residents.

The Handsworth-born poet was dyslexic and unable to read or write but went on to have a career that spanned poetry, literature, music and television.

Benjamin Britten's War Requiem incorporated the words of the World War One poet Wilfred Owen - whose poetry had also faded from popular consciousness - to a new generation.

The annual celebration on 25 January commemorates the life of Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, who died in 1796.

The President of Ireland Michael D Higgins said he regarded him "as a peerless poet" and that he would be recognised as one of the greatest poets Ireland had ever produced.