Performance poet Lemn Sissay received a standing ovation for his piece Something Dark at the annual National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa, in July 2009.

The UK poet attended the festival with funding from the British Council and Sustained Theatre, a network for artists in the UK.

‘The Grahamstown Arts Festival is one of the best in the world. I had a great time’ says Sissay. For him, being asked by the British Council to come to South Africa was a great honour and privilege.

Sissay is the author of several collections of poetry, including Tender Fingers in a Clenched Fist (Bogle L’ouverture), Rebel without Applause, Morning Breaks in the Elevator (Canongate) and The Emperor’s Watchmaker (Bloomsbury). His poems also decorate part of the city of Manchester.

He says the British Council’s innovative programmes - which he first experienced 20 years ago when he received funding to visit Germany - give people the opportunity to learn more about other countries and cultures.

‘The British Council encourages many young black people in Britain to engage with the world and gives artists the opportunity to think more widely about the world.’

Something Dark is a one-person show of spoken-word theatre: a performance which is scripted and directed but maintains the poet’s integrity. Sissay describes this piece as a search into his past for the truth of what happened and a revelatory search into the future.

‘The need to prove what happened to me inspired me to write Something Dark,’ adds Sissay.

He was born in England, put up for temporary foster care while his mother was studying in the UK and then prevented from returning to Ethiopia with her. He spent his childhood in children’s homes, but has since reunited with his mother.

Sissay says he wrote Something Dark to try to show the writing fraternity that his life as a poet was overwhelmed by the greater need to piece together his family story.

He describes himself as ‘sunshine, night time and sky’ ... ‘I have long shadows and I’m surrounded by light, which if anything represents truth.’

From an early age, he knew he wanted only to be a poet. Though some people refer to him as a performance poet, he sees himself as a reciter of poems. ‘I write poetry and read it on stage and I call it spoken word.’

What Sissay loves most about poetry is its ability to evoke emotion in a person.

‘Spoken word can make one laugh, cry and smile at the same time. At times poetry consoles, at times it makes one angry. It’s flexible and in touch with human beings.’

Sissay says he was a fun child who was fascinated with life and writing. ‘My childhood was a lot of fun. I was a very awake child. Awake to the loss as much as the joy’.