Lemn Sissay

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Lemn has recently commenced a year-long residency with us, as Poet in Residence. He is the author of four poetry collections: Tender Fingers in a Clenched Fist (1988); Rebel Without Applause (1992); Morning Breaks in the Elevator (1999) and The Emperor's Watchmaker (2000). He is also the editor of The Fire People: A Collection of Contemporary Black British Poets (1998), and his work has appeared in many anthologies. His stage plays are Chaos By Design, Storm, and Something Dark.

Lemn is also an Associate Artists at Artsadmin. Examples of his television explorations include a six-part jazz series for BBC2, and in 2004 he presented the first National Poetry Slam and The New Brit for the BBC. His work has featured in various short films including the British Film Institute sponsored The Elevator, featuring Gary Lewis. A documentary about Lemn's extraordinary life and search for his father, Internal Flight, was recently broadcast on BBC1.

He has been commissioned to write poems by various bodies including the World Service, and his work has become public art, particularly in Manchester, where his poems appear on buildings and streets. Lemn reads his work around the world and is featured on many albums, most notably Leftism by Leftfield.

The Independent on Sunday says of his work: 'His poems are the songs of the street, declamatory, imaginative, hard-hitting.'

Read more from Lemn by visiting www.lemnsissay.com