Lemn Sissay at Contact
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
It’s National Poetry Day on 6 October, so why not celebrate by catching Lemn Sissay, practically the poet laureate of Manchester, not once but twice? Lemn, famous round these parts for his Tib Street pavement poems and his Landmark Poetry, including ‘Rain’ on Gemini chippy and ‘Hardy’s Well’ (which may soon disappear if the pub of the same name’s fate is sealed by demolition), is launching his first book in eight years, Gold from the Stone.
First off, the Chancellor at the ‘University of’, no less, and official poet for the 2012 London Olympics, will be reading from the much-anticipated collection of new and old work, chatting to Dave Haslam and answering questions at HOME on 2 October. Then, at Contact on 8 October, he closes the eighth day-long Black and Asian Writers Conference, part of Manchester Literature Festival. And to round it all off, nip down to the Museum of Science and Industry Wonder Materials: Graphene and Beyond exhibition to see a specially commissioned poem by Lemn in situ until June.
