Lemn Sissay

Standing On The Shoulders

Lemn Sissay is a poet, performer, and chancellor at the University of Manchester. His work ranges from volumes of poetry and plays to documentaries, and an autobiography. He’s been awarded an MBE for services to literature by the Queen, and in 2019 won the PEN Pinter Prize, given to writers who take an “unflinching, unswerving” view of the world.

Lemn talks to Aleks us about his childhood spent with a foster family who rejected him at the age of 12. He speaks about spending five years in four different children’s homes and realising at the age of 18 his entire life was a lie. He also speaks about transforming experience, however harrowing, into memory and meaning, and about the giant who gave him strength and inspiration throughout.