Lemn Sissay OBE is a poet playwright, memoirist, performer and broadcaster.
My Name is Why, his life story, is infused with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation’s best-loved poets. This moving, frank and timely performance is the result of a life spent asking questions, and the redemptive power of creativity.
My Name is Why is a deep personal exploration into consciousness and identity including the impacts of secrets on developing a sense of self. These themes and others in the show will be explored in the post-event conversation with Lemn Sissay.
Lemn has read on stage throughout the world, from The Library of Congress in The United States to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, from the Opera House of Dubai to London Palladium. His television documentaries have been nominated for Grierson, BAFTA and RTS awards. His work in radio has been nominated for Sony and Palm D’Ors. He is seven years a chancellor, official poet of the London Olympics, Honorary fellow of Oxford and Cambridge colleges, winner of 2024 Hay Festival Medal for Poetry, and a three times Sunday Times bestseller.
The post show conversation will be with Helen Mountfield KC
Helen is Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, and a founder member of Matrix Chambers. She has over 30 years of experience using equality law and human rights law to advance equal opportunities, and is known for working with civil society organisations and arguing cases which promote an anti-racist environment in education. She has particular expertise in use of the public sector equality duty, and co-authored seven editions of the Blackstone Guide to the Human Rights Act 1998. Helen is currently chair of the Equality & Diversity Forum (and its Disability Sub-Group), a member of the University’s Legal Committee and on the Management Board of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. She is also a trustee of the Equal Rights Trust and of the Institute for the Future of Work.