Poet, playwright and performer Lemn Sissay was born in 1967 in Lancashire, England to Ethiopian parents. After being adopted as a baby and raised by a white foster family, Lemn was abruptly given up again for adoption at age 11. Lemn’s prolific writing and performance in a variety of mediums fuse the lyrical and the polemical, including both humor and seriousness as he discusses his search for family, identity and belonging.

One of the UK’s best-known performance poets, Lemn 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. He is a regular contributor to Poetry Review and has judged various writers competitions such as The Arvon Poetry Prize and The John Lewellyn Literature prize. Lemn has also been commissioned to write poems by various bodies including the BBC World Service, and his work has become public art (particularly in Manchester where his poems appear on buildings and streets).

His stage plays are Chaos By Design (1994), Storm (2003), and Something Dark (2006). Examples of his television work include a 6-part jazz series and The New Brit documentary for the BBC and hosting the first National Poetry Slam.

His performance 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 broadcast on BBC 1.

Lemn is well-known for his work with several bands and musicians, including Bryon Wallen, David Murray, Working Week, and DisJam, along with his notable contribution to the acclaimed Leftism album by Leftfield.

Lemn is currently poet-in-residence at the Southbank Centre in London and is writing the adaptation of Benjamin Zephaniah’s book Refugee Boy for The West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2008. He is Patron along with Jaqueline Wilson of The Letterbox Club, a Booktrust initiative to get books to children in foster care. He is also a regular contributor to Radio 4’s Saturday Live.