Answering questions, he said he is still angry but now it is more defined and he does not maintain the same anger of his youth. Theres a sort of stoicism, he says, of how the experience shaped him. Yet in 1980, at the age of 12, young Norman was abruptly expelled from his white . I had no one. Lemn means 'why' in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, where celebrated poet Lemn Sissay's mother was from. It is not sunny, but Lemn Sissay is sheltering behind dark shades, hunched over as he inhales cigarettes to feed his near-40-year habit. Although its going to take time to shift the stigma and change the system, I believe it will happen.. None of it. I had no idea what he meant. I am not defined by my scars but by the incredible ability to heal. Lemn Sissay on ITV News (Credit: ITV) He gained significant international recognition in 2012 when he was appointed the official poet at the 2012 London Olympics. . I remember the smell of wet heather, bracken and fern. When he was six, his adoptive mother died and he was sent to live with relatives for 15 months, until his father remarried and he moved back home. It was the end of December 1979 and I was excited when I entered the front room for the family meeting. Buy My Name Is Why: Quick Reads 2022 Main - Quick Reads by Sissay, Lemn (ISBN: 9781838854645) from Amazon's Book Store. A lot of care-experienced people will also measure success by how were feeling internally, how we manage our mental health and wellbeing, and not always what were achieving externally. Moved into a childrens home aged six, Saha then went to live with adoptive parents in Merseyside the following year a complex but positive experience for which he feels lots of gratitude. It upset my brother when he realised what he hadnt taken on board., Photography/film rep, exec producer and consultant, In the 1990s Loo How, who was adopted at six weeks by a very Christian white family in Bristol, went on a journey to track down her biological parents. I opened the door to allow that to happen. Lemn Sissay is a BAFTA-nominated, award-winning writer and broadcaster. There are many strings to the bow of Lemn Sissay OBE. "I spend all day in bed today," he once wrote plaintively on his blog. The last entry is his letter requesting to see them, at 18. Thank you to Jude Kelly, and John McGrath. Im not sure what I think of this, he says, anxiously, before concluding that, if Lemn did it, it must be OK. Im out here, on my own, doing the best I can, with the very little that any family member is going to offer me. In terms of the care system, everybody has such massively different experiences, she says, and the fact that sometimes we are all put into one bracket is, I think, a little bit unfair., Artist, puppet-maker and puppeteer for film and TV, I decided quite early on that whatever happened to me, I wasnt going to be a victim of it, says Marcus Clarke, who lived in two national childrens homes in the early 60s, aged four to seven, while his mother was caring for his ailing father. Healing can hurt too. Yemarshet Sissay came to England from her homeland, in 1966, planning to become a teacher so she could bring her new found skills back with her to Ethiopia to teach in schools there. I waited in the kitchen by my mum. By the time Sissay was approaching adolescence, cracks in their relationship had started to appear. A social worker placed Lemn with white Christian foster parents, David and Catherine Greenwood, who lived in Ashton-in-Makerfield. But dont be fooled, she says. Why would I think anything else? Her adoption broke down when she was nine and she moved through various childrens homes around Manchester until leaving care at 17 because I came out as a lesbian and it was a Catholic childrens home. They were good people who did bad things. Pete Turner was adopted at five months and grew up in Bury in a very liberal family that loved me, he says. Lemn thanked the audience, saying: You have been a blessing and shared my story. Ive put a great amount of my own time back into trying to improve things for other people., It destroys you as a person, the amount of anxiety you develop from always expecting something to go wrong in your life, says Tarell Mcintosh, who became homeless after two local authorities in south London failed to properly care for him. April 1974: Im seven. I had nothing to put in the locker by my bed. I was left in care and it felt like their intention was that Id work out it was my fault. show more Product details Format Hardback | 208 pages Dimensions 162 x 220 x 25mm | 422g Sheen has made a documentary about her experience, a powerful study of cultural displacement and linguistic disenfranchisement called Abandoned Adopted Here. Its an incredibly common experience. The answer was often because we are sinners. This is the story of being stolen by the state and his 17 years in local authority care. He was British and Ethiopian. Lemn Sissay is an award-winning writer, poet, playwright, artist and broadcaster. Samaritans is a 24-hour service offering emotional support for anyone struggling to cope. Her care experience in West Yorkshire was reasonably positive, partly because I was just happy to have a home. His Landmark poems are visible in London, Manchester, Huddersfield and Addis Ababa. Read the scriptures and give us your most honest and truthful answer tomorrow.. He thrives on praise and affection, in fact he cannot do without it. Social workers report, I hadnt realised I wasnt a happy child. The motivation, he says, comes from being 11 years old, losing my dad, going into a childrens home [Skircoat Lodge in Halifax], being really badly physically abused, ending up homeless, but then going back into the care sector and seeing that nothing had changed.. My experience has taught me the importance of having kind, supportive adults in the lives of children in care to help them feel safe, cared for and treated like one of the family, she says. It felt affectionate then, but later I realised something wasnt right. Lemn Sissay was stolen by the state. Lemn Sissay: 'My younger self did not deserve what institutions did to him' In a Letter to My Younger Self, the writer-broadcaster speaks candidly with The Big Issue about a childhood in care Adrian Lobb 6 Sep 2019 The memory of my younger self is something I struggle with. Riordan was in respite care several times during his first four years. The exhibition Superheroes, Orphans & Origins: 125 Years in Comics runs there until 28 August, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Top to bottom, left to right: Clare Gorham, Keith Saha, Michelle Brown, Kriss Akabusi, Jim Goddard, Allan Jenkins (on the right), Stanley J Browne, Siroun Button, Martin Figura, Mark Riddell, Paolo Hewitt, Lucy Sheen, Lemn Sissay, Olumide Popoola, Paul Cookson, Lennox Cato (on the right), Sylvan Baker, Axa Hynes, Barrie Sharpe. He recalled his days growing up in Leigh, near Atherton where he was the only black in the village and his time walking the streets of Daubhill selling cleaning products door to door. He spent 10 months in Wood End Assessment Centre in 1984. He reflected how he had since forgiven his foster parents, saying they did the best they could and he had also received apologies from Wigan Council. Other weird things started to happen. She is now a psychodynamic psychotherapist and the director of two companies. His mother couldn't cope with him and his brother so they were put into the care of . Mr Sissay detailed his experiences in the British care system in his autobiography of his early life - My Name Is Why. Being adopted is definitely something that puts a mark on you, says fashion and portrait photographer Philip Sinden. When my foster parents put me into care, at the age of 12, they said: Were never going to write to you, were never going to come. I could never have imagined that the people who said they were my parents for ever could do such a thing. At the age of seventeen, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. Just me. My mother was a manic depressive, so I was in and out of care. Lemn Sissay: 'My foster parents were good people who did bad things' Interview by Donna Ferguson The poet talks about how his foster parents put him into care at the age of 12 and left him there,. Lemn Sissay. And so, the poet took the Wigan council to court. Lemn Sissay, writer and Chancellor of the University of Manchester, held the Great Hall of Bolton School Girls' Division mesmerised during an emotional rollercoaster of an evening. It was amazing to be seen, says Olumide Popoola about some of the social workers who helped her through care in Germany. I know so many care-experienced people whove had that further experience of being homeless, being a rough sleeper, living in hostels, sofa-surfing, all that kind of stuff.. They treated me as if I was a Trojan horse sent into the family to destroy it. His Landmark poems are visible in London, Manchester, Huddersfield and. Lemn Sissay, writer and Chancellor of the University of Manchester, held the Great Hall of Bolton School Girls Division mesmerised during an emotional rollercoaster of an evening. And this is what I found. Poet Lemn Sissay, who said he was abused at Wood End as a child, returned there for a 1995 documentary . Lemn was the first person I saw on stage talking about being care-experienced and it blew my mind, says comedian, actor and writer Sophie Willan, best known as the creator and star of Bafta-winning BBC Two series Almas Not Normal. He has authored collections of poetry and plays. It was Lemn Sissay. He has been made an Honorary Doctor by the universities of Manchester, Kent, Essex, Huddersfield and Brunel, and in 2019 . Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. In that situation, a mother doesnt see her child, she is wrenched into the memory of the father. Author, broadcaster, chancellor of the University of Manchester. Seek and ye shall find. This is what they wanted to seek. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Social services placed the baby Lemn into long-term foster care, advising the foster family to treat this as adoption. The documents armed Sissay with the necessary proof that "the government had stolen my childhood.". It was a question to which I already had the answer. I sat at the table and my mum looked at me intensely. We wrestled. He is in two minds about searching for his birth parents. My mother had schizophrenia, I had a stepfather who was very violent to my mother and to me. Sissay reflects on his childhood, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. She left you She didnt want you If I find her, I will scratch her eyes out How could she My mums love was elevated by how much she hated my birth mother for leaving me. Lemn means 'why' in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, where celebrated poet Lemn Sissay's mother was from. Norman Mills, my new social worker, waited at the gate. On the back another poem is handwritten, composed on the train into London this morning, fresh on the page. This was the beginning of not being touched. Lemn Sissay is a poet, author and broadcaster who was the official poet of the London Olympics in 2012. These experiences have shaped who I am today, an independent woman, passionate about my career and working with local authorities in Greater Manchester to ensure every young person has a voice, choice and control over decisions made about them., Psychodynamic psychotherapist and director of Integrated Minds and Artists on the Couch. Come what may, I may be knocked down, but I wont be down for long., Artist and founder member of the darkroom e5process, Tina Rowe first encountered racism when, aged six, she moved with her white adoptive family from a small Oxfordshire village to Malvern in Worcestershire. I was just nudging into adolescence at the time, and theyd recently had their third child, Helen. He rebelled against the system and later ended up in detention centres and prisons, dealing with drug addiction. Christopher, Sarah and I were on top of the world. He learned that his real name was not Norman. We need to prioritise the voices of people with lived experience of care, she says. He was British and Ethiopian, and he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth. In care from 11 to 17, Ben Ashcroft moved 51 times between foster parents, residential care, secure units, secure training centre, and finally a young offenders unit. We can go on to do better if were just given the same life chances as other people. A decade ago, Clare Gorham was very much pro transracial adoption. Sissay realised he'd been stolen. The betrayal was the worst thing. I was challenged with a lot of preconceived ideas and biases by the adults I was around, about whether I could be a mum and make it through against all odds. Walker managed to hold on to her child and was later able to focus on education, which saved me, she says. A lot of transracial adoptees talk about how racist their white families are, but actually, its racism that affects them too, and the way they see the world, says Rowe. Now, as he approaches his 55th birthday, he's added another: children's writer. I was a questioner. In the Baptist church, our church, we were taught to question why. Now hes a national adviser for England, advising the government and local authorities how to have a better leaving care offer to the more than 80,000 kids that weve got in care. On the back another poem is handwritten, composed on the train into London this morning, fresh on the page. Insomuch as the foster child is a cipher to the dysfunction of a family and also a seer. The memoir was warmly received, though Jenkins, who edits Observer Food Monthly, has mixed feelings about becoming a figurehead for care-experienced people. Being in foster care is probably the primary reason why I had a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, says Derek Owusu, whose award-winning debut novel, That Reminds Me, explores the after-effects of a childhood in care. Lemn Sissay MBE, yes put some respeck on his name and add them last 3 letters. He learned that his real name was not Norman. I used to let Christopher win at things, because he would get really upset when he didnt win, so I would play the wall and then let the ball go, and say to the wall: 15 love, to you. There was always a decision as I got to the end of the game with the wall, about whether Id let him win or not. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, has been chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trustees two years later, having previously been appointed one of the museum's fellows. Whilst it served as a telling analogy for his own life, he apologised to anyone fresh to poetry readings as this was a weighty introduction but, he said, I wanted to push you. I loved life: Lemn Sissay with friends in the days when he believed his name was Norman. His mother was asked to sign adoption papers, but refused; she wanted him back when she could manage better. Hes now a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and founder of a campaign group Every Child Leaving Care Matters. He said he now tries to put all his energy into projects that help children in care. "I found out about your past and then I heard you on Desert Island Discs," Lisa told Lemn . Ben Ashcroft, the author of a memoir titled Fifty-One Moves, was nearly one of them. Director of strategy and integration for Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, Im hopeful that attitudes towards those in care are changing, says Meera Mistry, who was in foster care in London for most of her teens. Later, while piecing together his origins, he discovered that his mother had pleaded for his return and been denied by social services. She wanted her child to be fostered while she studied. I know from reading the very brief information I have on my birth parents that my natural mother wanted me to have a better life than she could give me, he says. He learned that his real name was not Norman. 3 January 1980: My mum wouldnt hug me as I left, so I hugged her. This is an edited extract from My Name Is Why: a Memoir by Lemn Sissay, published by Canongate on 29 August at 16.99. It taught me the middle-class way of life: how to lay a table and make a bed and eat with a knife and fork. CERI - Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, Ceremony of Carols Brings Light on a Dark December Evening, Local Primaries Compete in Maths Challenge, Cross Country Teams Crowned Town Champions, Girls Win Club Stage of Utilita Girls' Cup, 50th Tillotson Lecture Focuses on Biotechnology Revolution, Harriet is Swim Englands Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, Girls Lay Wreath During Armistice Assembly, Lacrosse Team Wins Northern Schools Tournament, One-Day Film School Develops a Range of Skills, Prize-giving Celebrates Outstanding Achievements. These moments stuck in my memory. If you just want to be? Baker was transracially fostered from 11 days old. The heartache and anger of his youth alternate in his poetry with lighter, whimsical aphorisms and celebrations of place . The Care Leavers Association is a national user-led charity aimed at improving the lives of care leavers of all ages. It was amazing to find him and realise where I get my activism from., Social work leader, campaigner and charity trustee. It's a bolt from the blue. Lemn Sissay as a child, with his foster family He tells me what happened when he met his mother a decade ago. Over the past few years I sensed I had done something wrong and yet didnt know what it was. Music producer/writer; founder of clothing labels Duffer of St George and Sharpeye; author; one of the two creators of the rare groove scene; photographer; activist. This led me to the answer I thought they wanted me to get to. This is the story of being stolen by the state and his 17 years in local authority care. I was in care. He didnt disclose his own experience to anyone at university until he co-founded a participatory research project called The Verbatim Formula in 2015. When Allan Jenkins embarked on his gardening memoir Plot 29, he found himself writing about the helplessness of seed just three paragraphs in and was prompted to revisit his unsettled past, growing up in foster care in south Devon with his older brother Christopher. None of this is your fault. He felt that Normans successes were too many for [his brother] Christopher to cope with. The journey took about 45 minutes, or 45 seconds. He tapped the indicator and pulled quietly into a lay-by and turned the engine off. This is what I have chosen. Thats all I knew. At the age of 17, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his Birth Certificate. My grandad and foster parents and I used to go down to the bay to get salmon, trout and mussels. He said with age had come wisdom and he realised that bitterness rots the vessel that carries it; forgiveness for him has given him great release. Its taken a lot of years to reflect back to my foster parents what they did to me. My grandad had a cottage in Lochinver we would visit in the summer holidays and at Easter. I was a deceitful one. Catherine and David had no children when they took me. Today we stand proud as care leavers and remove societys stigma. Brown defied expectations by progressing to university and getting a Masters. A school report calling the boy "a ray of sunshine" is probed for racist overtones, and happily exonerated. James McMahon 'I was so proud to be the official poet of the 2012 Olympic Games': Lemn Sissay. Nature holds memory. He advocates for children in the local authority's care and is involved in organisations concerning their welfare. Composite: All images courtesy of contributors, Every one of us has a different story: a historic portrait of care system success, once was Christopher Goldsmith, reads a poem, neatly typed out on one side of a piece of A4 paper. Tomorrow came and I said it with pride because I thought I had found the answer they wanted me to find: I mustnt love you, I said. I was causing problems for everyone. Overall, the experience was good, he says, but you dont feel like youve really lived your childhood. Even though his new catering business is thriving, Bramble often feels impostor syndrome. Books were a way to escape from the madness around me, be that foster care, family, or residential homes. We passed the butchers and the chemists and Wigan Road and passed the Flower Park and the main park, the junior school and Byrchall High School, and then unfamiliar territory unfolded before me: the East Lancashire Road. He was brought up by foster parents as Norman Greenwood and was put into the first of four children's homes in Greater Manchester in 1979. Mr Sissay, who grew up in the care system, shared his concerns after a report, published by the. Ludford began as a cleaner at Manchester city council before working her way up, earlier this year, to lord mayor. Often, I would. Lemn was born in 1967; two months later, he was taken into care. His Landmark poems are visible in London, Manchester, Huddersfield and Addis Ababa. I loved him. They carry on, and people deal with them in various ways. Goddard is the chair of the Care Leavers Association, which focuses on care leavers of all ages it might help people access their care files, or deal with issues around social isolation. Both places recognised her writing talent and helped her get work published. I loved school. My own success happened in spite of my time in care, not because of it. He has authored several collections of poetry, as well as plays for both stage and public radio, and was official poet of. I showed my love for him by punching him. It was Lemn Sissay. I had teachers who put me in a box once they knew my background and said, Youll end up doing no good. Reynolds, who contributed to her mother Margarets 2021 book about adoption, The Wild Track, now studies ancient history and social anthropology at St Andrews and is involved in activist groups. $21.87 10 New from $16.75. Mr and Mrs Greenwood realise there may be many problems ahead with Norman. The skies are grey. He spoke of finding wreckage from the crash in the documentary Internal Flight which can be viewed on YouTube. Libraries were my hallowed space, and librarians were kind guardians who gave me orphan tales. Now, as part of her PhD, Canning is writing her own novel, entitled Hiraeth, about a 16-year-old orphan leaving a childrens home in the mid-1970s. He wrote about the experience in his 2010 poetry collection Whistle, which was shortlisted for a Ted Hughes award and which Figura later turned into an Edinburgh show. Alex Wheatle grew up in care in the notorious Shirley Oaks childrens home in Croydon a very lonely existence, he says. That was strange for a while. Now hes written a lyrical memoir describing his experiences, Lemn Sissay, poet, performer and chancellor at the University of Manchester, was born in Billings Hospital near St Margarets House for pregnant unmarried girls and women in Wigan, Greater Manchester, to an Ethiopian student on 21 May 1967. I always thought it was something I had to hide. Cato was born on the Caribbean island of Grenada and adopted as a baby by white parents in Brighton, along with his brother. Thus, Sissay began his life as "Norman Mark Greenwood . I felt important. I was 10 and we were off to a wedding in our new clothes. If we spent long enough with each other, wed probably all start crying. Lemn Sissay is a poet, author and broadcaster who was the official poet of the London Olympics in 2012. Youre on your guard. You dont love us, you dont want to be with us? All of this happened the day after they had made this call to the social worker. Now my mindset is slightly different. He was British and Ethiopian. We sweated until one of us, invariably Christopher, would burst into tears. Theyd come down to see us and say hi. My sisters lived in London with my blood parents in a black world. Of course I loved them. Since then his poems have become landmarks, sculpted in granite and built from concrete, recorded on era-defining albums and declaimed in over twenty countries. Johanan Walker enthusiastically nods. I am mightily proud of being care-experienced as its made me who I am today. They were my parents and I loved them unconditionally. Macavity was dark, quick and a thief. Lemn Sissay is a BAFTA-nominated, award-winning international writer and broadcaster. My foster father was a teacher and my foster mother was a nurse. And thats all right, but thats the deal. Most children in care have someone they can call family. At school I was subject to all kinds of questions about my race, which I couldnt answer. Detention centres and prisons, dealing with drug addiction loved me, be that foster,! 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