Lemn Sissay
Lemn Sissay is a poet and playwright, as well as the Trustee of World Book Night, Patron of The Letterbox Club and The Reader Organisation, and the Education Ambassador for Arvon Foundation. He is also associate artist at Europe’s largest arts complex, Southbank Centre. He was the first poet commissioned to write for the 2012 Olympics and his poem Spark Catchers is etched into a Transformer on The Olympic Site. He curated the world’s first Literature Festival of The Sea.
Lemn is author of five books of poetry spanning twenty five years. He is an honorary Doctor of Letters and was awarded the 2010 travelling award scholarship from the Society of Authors. His play Something Dark directed by John McGrath (artistic director of National Theatre Wales) is winner of a RIMA award and has been performed throughout the world. BBC made a television documentary about his life – Internal Flight. In 2010 he was made a MBE by the Queen of England for services to literature.
