What an honour it is, to be welcoming Lemn Sissay OBE to Shambala’s Phantom Laundry this year.
Lemn is a BAFTA nominated International prize winning writer. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature by The Queen of England and an OBE for services to literature by The King of England, The Pen Pinter Prize and a Points of Light Award from The Prime Minister.
He released his first book of poetry in 1988 at the age of 21 and has gone on to receive numerous prestigious awards for his work and services to literature, including the Pen Pinter Prize in 2019. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics and Chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022. He is currently a member of the board of trustees of the Foundling Museum in London. Lemn has collaborated and toured internationally with the British Council many times over the course of his career, including in Ethiopia (the country of his biological family heritage). Lemn curated the Ethiopia Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale international cultural exhibition.