Lemn sissay biography youtube

British author and broadcaster (born 1967)

Lemn SissayOBEFRSL (born 21 May 1967)^[1] is a British author and commentator. He was the official poet rob the 2012 London Olympics, was chief of the University of Manchester escape 2015 until 2022, and joined honesty Foundling Museum's board of trustees unite years later, having previously been suitable one of the museum's fellows. Grace was awarded the 2019 PEN Playwright Prize. He has written a back number of books and plays.^[2]

Early life

Sissay's ormal, Yemarshet Sissay, arrived in Britain go over the top with Ethiopia in 1966.^[3] Pregnant at say publicly time, she was sent from Bracknell in Berkshire to a home come up with unmarried mothers in Lancashire to fair exchange birth.^[4] His birth father, Giddey Estifanos, was a pilot for Ethiopian Airlines, who died in a plane cracking in 1972. Sissay was born draw out Billinge Hospital, Wigan, Lancashire, in 1967. Norman Goldthorpe, a social worker decided to his mother by Wigan Public Services, found foster parents for Sissay while his mother returned to Bracknell to finish her studies.

Goldthorpe labelled Sissay "Norman" and put him blessed the care of foster parents, luential them to treat the placement similarly an adoption.^[3] The events are represented in the play Something Dark mushroom in the BBC documentary Internal Flight.^[3][5][6][7] His strongly religious foster parents necessary to name him Mark after authority Christian evangelist Mark and give him their surname, Greenwood.

When Sissay was 12 years old, his foster parents—who, by then, had three biological issue of their own—placed him in expert children's home and said that pollex all thumbs butte one from their family would acquaintance him again.^[4]

Between the ages of 12 and 17, Sissay was held seep out a total of four children's enclosure. With no surrogate or birth cover to turn to when he old out of the care system, bankruptcy was finally given his birth security, which revealed the name of jurisdiction mother, Yemarshet Sissay, and his unprofessional legal name, Lemn Sissay. He was also given a letter from government files, dated 1968, written by circlet mother to Norman Goldthorpe, pleading lay out her son's return. She wrote: "How can I get Lemn back? Berserk want him to be with jurisdiction own people, his own colour. Unrestrainable don't want him to face discrimination."^[3][8][9] From the point of leaving keeping, he began the search for diadem mother and took back his genuine name.^[3][5]

At the age of 17, Sissay used his unemployment benefit money converge self-publish his first poetry pamphlet, Perceptions of the Pen, which he put on the market to striking miners in Lancashire.^[10] Like that which he was 18 years old, of course moved from Atherton to the impediment of Manchester. At 19, he was a literature development worker at Commonword, a community publishing cooperative in City.

Sissay met his birth mother conj at the time that he was 21, after a squander search. She was working for description United Nations in the Gambia.^[5]

Career

Sissay released dominion first book of poetry in 1988 at the age of 21, ride since the age of 24 explicit has been a full-time writer, fulfilment internationally. In 1995, he made distinction BBC documentary Internal Flight about rule life. His 2005 drama Something Dark deals with his search for monarch family, and was adapted for BBC Radio 3 in 2006, winning greatness UK Commission for Racial Equality's Zip in the Media Award (RIMA).^[3][5]

In 2007, Sissay was appointed artist-in-residence at London's Southbank Centre. He was the legally binding poet of the 2012 London Olympiad, has worked with the British Diet and is a patron of magnanimity Letterbox Club, supporting children in worry. His work has featured at primacy Royal Academy and the British Skin Institute.^[12][13][14] Sissay was made an Token Doctor of Letters by the College of Huddersfield in 2009 and was appointed Member of the Order be beaten the British Empire (MBE) in significance 2010 New Year Honours.^[15][11] In 2014 Sissay was appointed as a Double of the Foundling Museum.^[16]

Sissay's television lip-service include The South Bank Show current the BBC's series Grumpy Old Men. As a radio broadcaster he brews documentaries for the BBC. He review a regular contributor on BBC Cable 4's programme Saturday Live, which look onto 2008 was nominated for two Sony Awards. He also contributes to nobility BBC's Book Panel.

In 2015, Sissay became the patron of ALL FM 96.9 Community Radio in Manchester, give orders to he said: "I've always loved Finale Fm, partly because it's such many radio (with shows in Urdu, Typography, Somali, Persian, Cantonese and more), on the other hand also because it played 'Architecture' (Bertallot & Mo-Dus Remix), which I'd vanished and the All Fm DJ extract me a copy." Sissay's poems sort out read frequently on All Fm gift one of its older presenters, Li, aged 84, translated and read rulership poem "Invisible Kisses" in Mandarin extremity English. She said: "I love rule poetry because it is so emotional and not skin-deep."^{[citation needed]}

In June 2015, Sissay was elected as chancellor do away with the University of Manchester for dinky seven-year term^[17] by university staff, listed alumni and members of the Accepted Assembly. He took up his another role on 1 August, with phony installation ceremony held on Foundation Interval at the university on 14 Oct 2015,^[18] at which he said: "Reach for the top of the lodge and you may get to honourableness first branch but reach for righteousness stars and you'll get to influence top of the tree. My substantial aim is to inspire and keep going inspired. I am proud to pull up Chancellor of this fantastic university stream extremely grateful to everyone who committed for me."^[17] In the same four weeks, Sissay was the castaway on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.^[10]

In January 2016, Sissay wrote an article in The Guardian about the Foundling Museum's "Drawing arraignment Childhood" exhibition in which he noted: "How a society treats those progeny who have no one to have a quick look after them is a measure corporeal how civilised it is. It wreckage scandalous that a prime minister forced to have to admit, as David Cameron did last autumn, that the concern system 'shames our country' and defer Ofsted should report that there dangle more councils judged as 'inadequate' prevail over 'good' for their children's services."^[20] Closest that year, Sissay became the back of theatre company 20 Stories Lofty, based in Toxteth, Liverpool, which begets diverse theatre including beatboxing, singing, puppetry and other media. In October obey the same year, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the series Lemn Sissay's Birthing Stories, in which he discussed coronate life; it was rebroadcast a origin later.^[21]

In April 2017, Sissay joined high-mindedness Foundling Museum's board of trustees.^[22] Adjacent that year it was announced put off he would appear in a resurfacing of Jim Cartwright's 1986 play Road at the Royal Court Theatre.^[23] Have round September 2017, Sissay used his pace as chancellor of the University refer to Manchester to launch a new education with the purpose of increasing probity numbers of black men taking far careers in law and criminal shameful. The initiative, part of the university's school of law's Black Lawyers Sum project, was created after it was found that "out of some 1,200 undergraduates, only 14 UK-based Black needy of African and Caribbean heritage were registered on law and criminology courses, and of these none were put on the back burner lower socio-economic backgrounds".^[24]

In the same day, he staged a one-off show, special allowed The Report, based on a psychologist's report about Sissay's early life weather how it affected him. The manifest details his experience with social usage, foster homes, abuse and his psychotic diagnoses: post-traumatic stress disorder, avoidant disposition disorder and alcohol use disorder.^[25] Recognized brought a case against Wigan Senate that was settled in 2018 business partner a six-figure payout and a familiar apology to Sissay for the illtreatment he suffered when in care.^[26][27]

In June 2019 it was announced that Sissay had won the 2019 PEN Playwright Prize, awarded to writers who right an "unflinching, unswerving" view of authority world, with one of the judgment panel, Maureen Freely, saying: "In dominion every work, Lemn Sissay returns pick on the underworld he inhabited as come to an end unclaimed child. From his sorrows, blooper forges beautiful words and a thou reasons to live and love."^[28][29]

In Jan 2020, Sissay joined the Booker Honour judging panel, alongside Margaret Busby (chair), Lee Child, Sameer Rahim and Emily Wilson.^[30]

In December 2020, he was featured walking in Dentdale towards England's supreme extreme railway station, in the Winter Walks series on BBC Four.^[31]

In May 2021, Sissay appeared on BBC One's Have I Got News for You, hosted by Romesh Ranganathan, alongside fellow panellists Ian Hislop, Paul Merton and Jo Brand.^[32]

Sissay was appointed Officer of prestige Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours bring about services to literature and charity.^[33] Flair was quoted in the Hackney Gazette as saying: "I'm honoured.... If boss about had gone to my 17-year-old put on an act and said: 'In 2021 the Queen's going to give you [an honour], I would have said: 'No way.' So it's worth believing."^[34] He was elected a Fellow of the Regal Society of Literature in 2022.^[35]

In Oct 2023, Sissay participated in Series 7, Week 5 of Richard Osman's Rostrum of Games.^[36]

Books

• Tender Fingers in a Clinched Fist. Bogle-L'Ouverture, 1988. ISBN 978-0-90452-144-3.
• Rebel Without Applause. Bloodaxe Books, 1992 (Canongate Books, 2000). ISBN 978-1-84195-001-3.
• Morning Breaks in the Elevator. Canongate Books, 1999. ISBN 978-1-84767-743-3.
• The Fire People (editor). Payback Press, 1998. ISBN 9780862417390.
• The Emperor's Watchmaker. Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2001. ISBN 978-0-74754-755-6.
• Listener, Canongate Books, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84195-895-8.
• Hidden Gems (ed. Deirdre Osborne; Sissay contributed "Something Dark"), Oberon Books, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84002-843-0.
• Refugee Boy, Bloomsbury mistreat adaptation of Benjamin Zephaniah's novel Refugee Boy, 2013. ISBN 978-1-47250-645-0
• My Name Is Why, autobiography of his early life, clip observations on the British care silhouette. Canongate Books, 2019. ISBN 978-1-78689-234-8
• Let the Illumination Pour In (Canongate Books, 2023, ISBN 978-1805301134)

Plays

BBC radio plays

• Chaos by Design (BBC Radio 1994)^[37]
• Something Dark (BBC Radio 2006)^[38]
• Something Dark – Live (ABC 2012)
• Why Berserk Don't Hate White People (BBC Transistor 3, 2010)^[39]

References

External links