Lemn Sissay: Let the Light Pour In — live
Award-winning poet Lemn Sissay unravels the stories behind his poems in a night of readings, memoir, and hope.
Date & Time at 7:30 PM GMT
Location Queen Elizabeth Hall London, UK
Organizer Southbank Centre
Why we picked this
Sissay's poetry comes from a life story that would break most people — and somehow produces work that is luminous rather than bitter. Hearing the stories behind the poems adds a dimension the page alone cannot deliver.
Lemn Sissay brings his Sunday Times bestseller Let the Light Pour In to the Queen Elizabeth Hall stage, unravelling the stories behind poems that have found their way into weddings, funerals, classrooms, and strangers’ lives. His work draws on a remarkable personal history — raised in care, separated from his Ethiopian mother, and eventually reconciling with his origins — and transforms it into poetry that is generous rather than grieving.
This live performance pairs readings with the original stories behind the poems, revealing how they were written and how they have been used. Book signing follows.