Lemn Sissay – My Name is Why?

Lemn Sissay’s work has appeared on TV, in books and on the pavements and buildings of Manchester. He has travelled all over the world to read his poetry and has toured virtually every city in the UK.

At the age of 17, after a childhood in a fostered family, followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth. Lemn Sissay’s memoir reflects on a childhood in care, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Infused with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation’s best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely event is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.

Downstairs