Lemn Sissay
Lemn Sissay is a poet, playwright, memoirist and broadcaster. He has performed throughout the world from The Library of Congress in The United States, to the national Theatre of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, to the London Palladium in England. His television documentaries have been nominated for Grierson BAFTA and RTS awards. His work in radio has been nominated for Sony and Palm D’Ors. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, is an Honorary fellow of Oxford and Cambridge colleges, and is the winner of the 2024 Hay Festival Medal for Poetry and the Sunday Times bestselling author of My Name is Why and Let the Light Pour In. He is British and Ethiopian.
@lemnsissay | lemnsissay.com
“How does a government steal a child and then imprison him? How does it keep that a secret? This book is how.”
If you haven’t yet listened to the Guardian’s new podcast The Start, about artistic beginnings, then you’re missing out. Our own Lemn Sissay was on talking about his poem ‘Invisible Kisses’, the early relationship that inspired it, and how as a child he was separated from his mother and his name. You can listen to the full episode, and the poem itself is included in Gold from the Stone.
