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Lemn Sissay's history and how it connects to his poem "The World Wakes"

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Lemn Sissay's history and how it connects to his poem "The World Wakes"

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Lemn Sissay was born in 1967 to an Ethiopian mother in Wigan. She was a young girl who decided to go to Britain to study and found out she was pregnant then she was placed in a mother and baby unit until Lemn was two months old. When Lemn was old enough the mother was asked to sign adoption papers but she said no, but she asked if he could stay here until she was in better shape to take Lemn back to raise him properly. Sadly the Social Services pushed her wishes to the side and gave Lemn to foster parents and told them that they should treat this as adoption. Sissays name was changed to Norman by his social worker whose name is actually Norman. His new family were white and had a decent income for themselves. They were very strict, but they showed their love in a different way. When Lemn became twelve he became difficult to manage, eating cake without permission, staying out late. They said that the devil has gotten into him. Since they couldn’t cope with him anymore they sent him back to social services. They didn’t want to see Lemn again

Soon enough the head of social services got in touch with Lemn to say that his files had finally been found. So that was the beginning of the process that brought him to perform and talk about it. In recent years the Britain councils have begun to compensate children who were abused in their care. When Lemn Sissay was given his files he was told that the Wigan council wished to apologize to him.

His lawyer who is a expert in child abuse made his claim. Sissay tells me, of the record, the amount which was nothing outlandish, about in the low six figures. Wigan took six months to respond to Lemns' claim and then offered 11 times less to him. Sissay says he knows of abuse victims who settled for little as $2,000. Sissay also says “I was in care for 18 years. The care system should be a place where 18 years is a gift because you’ve got all the resources, the best education, the best psychotherapeutic work, and actually it was 18 years of betrayal, secrets, lies, beats, and incarceration.”

The poem World wakes connects to Lemn Sissay because although Sissay had a rough history he managed to put that aside and work on what he truly loves to do: write poems.

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Lemn Sissay was born in 1967 in Wigan Growing up Sissay didn't have family by his side, his father died in a plane crash when he was five and his mother sent him into a foster home, he had no siblings. In his early life he lived in London and Manchester. He finally met his mother at the age of 21 after his broken childhood. Sissays Landmark Poems can be found on the walls of hospitals, libraries, pubs, universities and train stations, bringing his writing to communities in public spaces every day. Sissay wrote many other books, his first book he released was in 1988 since then he has written 16 books, 5 poetry collections including his most recent book ‘’let the light pour in’’. Sissay started publishing books in 1988 all the way to 2023 still going strong. He had many jobs all in the same court including Poet, playwright, novelist, memoirist, radio broadcaster, documentary maker, public speaker, Chancellor of the University of Manchester (7 year term). Lemn Sissay has been awarded many things, some of his most important are the PEN Pinter Prize of 2019 he was the ‘’international writer of courage’’ that year, also an MBE awarded by the queen of England, and the points of light award from the prime minister. Sissay is currently living in London at 56 year old and with no wife and kids but loves to read and write, since he lives in a city, he loves to get to nature when he can. I can't even imagine Sissay with a great background with a supportive family along with his sharp mind of poetry. not everyone has the chance to strive in life but Sissay showed that he can start from nothing but pieces of graphite to graphene that is used every day. this shows me how we take graphene for granted just like family.

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Lemn Sissay is a British writer and he had a very strugglesome childhood. He was in foster care until he was 12 then he went to children's homes until he was 18. When he turned 18 he decided to move out and progress his literary career. After writing for a couple of years Lemn decided to meet his birth mother when he was 21, in addition when he was 21 he released his first book of poetry. Since the age of 24 Lemn has beena full time writer and has performed internationally. He also received an OBE for his services to literature and charity. In Lemn Sissay's poem ¨The World Wakes¨ he talks a lot about the future and how we can do so many amazing things with graphene. To go deeper I believe he is trying to say when his generation and all the other generations pass away and it is down to us we can do anything with all these resources and technology so we can help do our part to the world because he has done his part to donate to charity and spread wisdom and all these great things, so now he is stepping down and letting us do the unthinkable and change the world for the better.

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Lemn Sissay is a successful poet, playwright, broadcaster, and speaker, but considering his life story, he was never meant to become that. Lemn Sissay was born in 1967 in Wigan, and his mother was a young student who wanted her son to be fostered so she could focus on her studies. The social worker ignored her wishes and Lemn Sissay was renamed Norman and stayed with a foster family for 12 years before they kicked him out. For the next 5 years he stayed in multiple children’s homes experiencing physical, emotional, and racial abuse. At 17, Lemn Sissay knew he wanted to become a poet. He moved to Manchester and published his first book of poems at age 21 in 1985. During that time, he found his birth certificate and set out to find his mother.

Lemn Sissay is the author of “The World Wakes” which is a poem that explores the use and discovery of graphene. His life story and the discovery of graphene connect in many different ways. To elaborate, the discovery of graphene involved two scientists that took a piece of graphite and used scotch tape to peel off layer after layer. Their discovery was an accident, but without it there wouldn’t be certain technology advances. This discovery is similar to Lemn Sissay’s life because of how he grew up in an abusive foster home and children’s home, but ended up becoming an extremely successful poet doing what he loves to do. Sissay did not intend to become well-known, but since becoming famous he has been able to share his experiences and help others who are going through similar situations.

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Zachary Dunbar

9/28/23

English

Who Is Lemn Sissay?

Lemn Sissay is a 56 year old ethiopian man but more importantly Lemn Sissay is a poet, a playwright, a broadcaster and many more. He is known for his many books such as My Name Is Why and Let The Light Pour In. Some of his poems include “Some Things I Like” and “Gift Of Time”. He is also known for being the chancellor of University Of Manchester from 2015 to 2022.

Lemn Sissay was taken from his mother at a very young age and was put into foster care most of his life. When he turned 12 his foster parents kicked him out because he painted part of there roof with the ethiopian flag colors he was then put into child care. He was ridiculed, abused and was harmed for his skin color. During his 18 years in child care he starts writing poetry to cope with his many issues .He discovers that he's a good poet and he is fortunate enough that he can sell his self published poems to the world and the world happens to love it which brings me to the next part his poem “The World Wakes” which is about graphene. Graphene was found by chance the scientists were not trying to look for graphene they just happened to have found it so it was all chance. So Lemn Sissay's career was found by chance which is why the poem about graphene and its many uses is also about Lemn Sissay himself.

In conclusion Lemn Sissay is a very interesting man with a very interesting past. Although his past was unfortunate he would not be the person he is today. He would not be such a great author if it was not for his past.

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Lemn Sissay was born on 21, May 1967 in England, UK, Lemn lived a really hard childhood including going through four children’s homes and even being told that his own family what never contact him again. With no birth family to go to after aging out of the care system, he received his birth certificate which revealed the name of his mother Yemarshet Sissay, and his birth name Lemn Sissay. Sissay released his first book of poetry in 1988 at the age of 21, and since the age of 24, he has been a full-time writer, performing internationally. In June 2015, he was elected the chancellor of the University of Manchester for a seven-year term. Lemn Sissay is a BAFTA(British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nominated International prize-winning writer. Who was awarded an MBE for services to literature by The Queen of England, The Pen Pinter Prize, and a Points of Light Award from The Prime Minister. Graphene and Lemn Sissay’s lives are very similar, graphene was accidentally discovered by peeling parts of Graphite with scotch tape, nobody thought that graphene would be one of the most helpful things ever. Neither did care or families.

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Lemn Sissay is a famous poet from England. His father died while working as a pilot for Ethiopian Airlines, His mother is Yemarshet Sissay. He now has a dog. Lemn has never had a wife or children.  His mother had birth with lemn then went back to ethiopia and left him for the forster system, he had a difficult time in the foster system and left when he was 17. He had searched for his mother and finally found her when he was 21. In his early career he was the official London Olympics poet in 2012 and chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 to 2022. Lemn released his first published piece in 1988 and since then has been an author almost full time.

The World Wakes is a poem by Lemn sissay the university of Machester asked him to write about graphene which is a newly discovered 2d carbon compound that was discovered by taking the sticky piece of scotch tape and peeling graphite off.  The poem described his life and graphene’s life by showing how they both started very rough, Lemn had nothing and no one to help him in the beginning of his life until he was nearly 16 he was in foster with no one believing he would be anything. Graphene was just a  theory even after it was discovered no one believed it true uses and it was said to be fake or just someones dream.

“Everything I have done in my life has allowed me to be in a position where I can make a difference to The University of Manchester.” Lemn said this for the University of Manchester when the poem was published and it shows how despite all odds against him his decisions across his entire life put him at this point in the University and changing many peoples lives from the words he has used. Graphene is the “wonder stuff” as the poem called it and shows that no matter how you start off if it good or bad you can always change things to become whoever and whatever you want.

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Lemn Sissay was born at the Higher End or Billinge Higher End is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England in 1967. He grew up in Manchester and London. And was put up for foster care when he was a kid. His foster parents were Catherine and David Greenwood. Lemn Sissay was inspired to write poetry because his foster dad was an English teacher, so there would be all sorts of books around the house. Lemn Sissay grew up with a tough childhood. His foster parents treated him terribly, and when he was about 12, he was thrown out of his foster home and was sent to several foster homes. He started writing poetry when he was 16, and then soon became commissioned by the museum to be an advocate for foster children. Since 1975, he has written about 16 books. Sissay became the chancellor of the Manchester University from 2015-2022. In 2019, he was awarded the 2019 PEN printer prize. And in 2021, he became the official poet of the London Olympics. Lemn Sissay is now 56 years old. He went from a tough childhood to a successful life.

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Lemn Sissay was born to Ethiopian parents, but they brought him into the foster care system, where his foster care parents treated him horribly. He was born in the United Kingdom, Greater Manchester. He started writing short poems in 1985. By the time he was 21 he already started writing professionally, and when he was 24, he started performing professionally. Lemn Sissay was born in 1967, and is now 56 years old. He has been nominated for over 30 awards (including a BAFTA), and won around 30 of them. He has 14 books, his latest being a children's book called “Don’t Ask the Dragon”. Lemn Sissay has spoken at events in over 40 countries. He has worked in screen and sound for over 30 years, starting in 1994 and is still going.

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Lemn Sissay is a 56 year old British author and broadcaster. He had a tough childhood, he was a foster kid and didn't know any of his real family. He has spent most of his life searching for them. He said “poetry and finding my family are my two journeys.”  He also was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, was chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trustees, having previously been appointed one of the museum's fellows. He was awarded the 2019 PEN printer prize. He has written many books and plays. Even though Lemn had a hard life when he was younger, he was able to turn his life around and become the successful poet he is today.

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Lemn Sissay, a talented and resilient poet and playwright, has evolved into an inspirational figure whose work resonates deeply with people from all walks of life. With a captivating ability to weave words into powerful narratives, he has not only become a celebrated literary voice but also a prominent advocate for social justice and the rights of marginalized communities. Sissay's journey from a challenging childhood in foster care to his current status as a celebrated artist and advocate serves as a testament to the transformative power of art and resilience. Through his artistry, he has brought attention to issues of identity, belonging, and the human spirit, leaving an indelible mark on the world as a poet, playwright, and compassionate activist.

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Lemn Sissay was born in Billinge Hospital, near Wigan, Lancashire.

the 21st of May, 1967. Lemn is a British author and broadcaster. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, was chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trustees two years later, having previously been appointed one of the museum's fellows. He was awarded the 2019 PEN Pinter Prize.

Sissay's mother, Yemarshet Sissay, arrived in Britain from Ethiopia in 1966, She was pregnant at the time, she was sent from Bracknell in Berkshire to a home for unwed mothers in Lancashire to give birth. His birth father, Giddey Estifanos, was a pilot for Ethiopian Airlines, who died in a plane crash in 1972.

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Lemn Sissay was born on May 21, 1967 in Lancashire, England, UK. He had a very hard life from an early age. His mother was not married when he was born and she was still in university. She decided to put Lemn in foster care while she went back to Bracknell to finish her studying. Lemns father died in 1972 because of a plane crash. He never met his father, as he was 5 years old when he passed. Lemns first foster family put him in a children's home at 12, and was told no one from their family would ever contact him again. Between the ages of 12 and 17 he was in a total of 4 different children's homes.

At 17, Lemn used his unemployment benefit money to self publish his first piece of poetry. At the age of 19, he was a literature development worker at Commonword, which is a community publishing cooperative in Manchester, England. Lemn met his mother at the age of 21, after a very long and difficult search. At the time, his mother was working for the United Nations in The Gambia. Lemn published his first piece in 1988 at the age of 21. In 1991, at the age of 24, he became a full time writer and poet. He has received awards spanning from an MBE for services to literature by The Queen of England all the way to a Points of Light Award from The Prime Minister. Lemns early life made him a person to realize you need to start everything from scratch and that you need to be humble the whole way through your journey. He is now a very successful man and it comes to show that any beginning can make you great, you just have to keep going.

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Lemn Sissay is a 56 year old poet, writer, and narrator from the UK. He began his writing career in 1985 and grew up in Higher End. Tragically, his father died in a plane crash when he was young, and his mother left him because she felt she couldn't provide for him.  He then spent his childhood in foster care and struggled to find his place in the world. in Wigan He published first poetry pamphlet at 17; it was called Perceptions of the Pen.

Lemn Sissay met birth mother at 21 while she was working in the United States. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics. Worked with the British council. He won the UK commission for racial equality's race in the media award. He wrote five collections of poetry. His foster father did poetry. He didn't have all the privileges at the start of his life.

Even though it was hard he published books and tried to sell them at pubs, political marches, and anyplace where he could stand up and perform. He published 14 books. Lemn Sissay was commissioned by the museum of Science and Industry to write a poem for their wonder materials: Graphene and Beyond.

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He was born in Higher End, Orrell, United Kingdom. He got multiple awards including the MBE award from The Queen Of England, and the Pen Pinter prize, and a Points of Light award from the Prime Minister, he also has tons of book awards. He came from Africa and was put in foster care where he was treated very badly by his foster family the Lancashire family. When was 12 his foster family put him back in the foster home system where he went to multiple families where he was abused.  This relates to graphene because as graphite all it is used for is write and has very little uses but when it’s turned into graphene it has millions of uses and can change the world just like how Lemn Sissay changes people with his poetry.

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Lemn Sissay was born in Higher End,Orrell, United Kingdom. Lemn Sissay was noted Manchester poet and chancellor of the University of Manchester. He has written 16 books not including poems. With these 16 books he has won 35 awards his first being in 2004 which was the race in media award, his newest being freedom of the city of London. Just like graphite Lemn Sissay's childhood was not good from ages 12-18 he was bounced from care home to care home where he was physically, emotionally and racially abused. Sissay was told that his mother abandoned him and his father was unknown. But just like graphite upgrading into graphene Lemn had survived and now is living a good life in his house which is located in Higher End. Graphene was discovered in the University of Manchester, the same University as Lemn. I think Lemn had such a relationship with graphene because of how graphite, an everyday resource turns into graphene, a major discovery that has such uses for great things. The same goes for his life story. He was abandoned by his mom and had no one to love, bouncing from care home to care home which is like the graphite. As he grows up he is honored with 35 awards, chancellor of the University of Manchester, and has a net worth of around $5 million. His later life relates to graphene and his early life relates to graphite and I think that's why he has such a relationship with graphite and graphene.

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He struggled with a feeling of identity and belonging in a town that was predominately white after his Ethiopian parents abandoned him and placed him in foster care in the United Kingdom. These early setbacks strengthened his resolve to overcome difficulty. Sissay found consolation in poetry and literature and used them as effective tools to express his feelings and experiences. He became a renowned poet and author thanks to his extraordinary talent and dedication; he received awards like the PEN Pinter Prize and was named the Chancellor of the University of Manchester. Beyond his literary successes, Sissay's advocacy work for children in the foster care system demonstrates his belief in improving the lives of people who encounter similar difficulties. His life story acts as motivation since it demonstrates that One can triumph over difficulty and have a significant impact on the world, With the presented facts about his early stages of life and how he turned his struggle with identity and belonging into a massive work ethic we can make an inference to one of his poems “The World Wakes” that he went from graphite an everyday ordinary item that no one really thinks to appreciate to something that could differentiate the way we live currently and that is graphene a major discovery with universal applications.

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Lemn Sissay, born in May 1967, his mother who moved to britain in 1966 and was from Ethiopia, found foster parents for young Sissay. When Sissay was 12 his foster parents had three biological children for themselves and gave up and then in the future years between the ages of 12 and 17, Sissay had been in four children’s homes. At the age of 17 with the unemployment money that he had gained he self published his first poetry pamflet, Perceptions of the Pen, which he sold it to stricking miners in Lancashire. At the age of 19, Sissay was a literature development worker at Commonword, a community publishing cooperative in Manchester. Sissay released his first book of poetry in 1988 at the age of 21, and to the age of 24 he was a full-time writer, performing internationally. In 1955, he made the BBC documentary Internal Flight about his life. In the course of his life he was featured in many BBC radios. then in 2005, his drama Something Dark deals with his search for his birth family, a nd was adapted for BBC Radio 3 in 2006, then it winning the UK Commission for Racial Equality's Race in the Media Award. In the future years he created many famous books and poems. Which made him the person who he is today. At 56 he is a man of many things; author, poet, and radio host…

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Lemn Sissay is a Poet, author, speaker, and more. He was born and still lives in the UK. Sissay had a rough childhood, when he was 12 years old, his foster parents—who, by then, had three biological children of their own—placed him in a children's home and said that no one from their family would contact him again. Between the ages of 12 and 17, Sissay was held in a total of four children's homes. Since his foster dad was an English teacher, there were lots of books for him to read. Sissay self published his first poetry piece ‘Perceptions of the Pen’ when he was 17. He also has many accomplishments: 2023 Freedom of The City of London.

2023 Honorary Doctor Leicester University

2023 Honorary Fellow Mansfield College Oxford

2022 Manchester Culture Awards: Special recognition award,

2022 Ness Award Royal Geographical Society

2022 Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature #FRSL

2022 Making A Difference Award University of Manchester

2022 Honorary Chair in Creative Writing University of Manchester.

2022 Honorary Bencher Inner Temple

2021 Honorary Fellow Jesus College Cambridge

2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours OBE.

2021 Grierson Award - Nominee

2021 Winner Indie Book Awards (non Fiction)

2021 Essex University Honorary Doctorate

2021 Broadcast Awards - nominee

2020 RTS Award - nominee

2019 Grierson Award - nominee

2019, PEN Pinter Prize

2004, Race in the Media Award (RIMA)

2010, New Years Honours MBE (services to literature)

2013, Honorary Doctor of Letters University of Huddersfield

2014, Fellow of Foundling Museum

2015, Citation from Congress

2015, Chancellor at ate himslef University of Manchester

2015, Honorary Doctor of Letters University of Manchester

2015 Palm D’or Nominee, Best Radio Entertainment

2016, Doubleday Award

2016, NESTA New Radical Award

2016, Bikila Award Toronto

2017, Points of Light Award from Prime Minister

2017, Seed Award Toronto

2017, The Times Alternative Rich List

2018, University of Kent Honorary Doctor

2019, BAFTA - nominee

2019, University of Brunel Honorary Doctor

Sissay was able to relate himself to the discovery of graphene because, graphene was discovered when scientists took small layers off of graphite with tape, not expecting anything to happen. This led to the accidental discovery of graphene. This related to Lemn because when he started publishing writing, he didn't think that anything would come from it, but it changed his life completely. He also wrote a poem for an exhibit in the Science and Industry Museum about graphene.

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Lemn Sissay, born in Higher End, Orrell, United Kingdom 1967 to an Ethiopian woman where she was quickly forced to hand him over to social services. After this he was renamed Norman by a social worker of the same name.

He was then brought into a foster home by a deeply religious Lancashire family. And even throughout all of this he says that he was a happy child but, in his very first poem he was able to  imagine himself as a 16-year-old as fearful and withdrawn. Where writing poems came naturally to him. Lemn’s foster dad had been an English teacher, so there were books everywhere in his house.

Sissay had a very poor education and was placed in children's homes from the ages 12-17, and finally Lemn’s could self publish his first pamphlet Perceptions of the Pen where he sold to miners in Lancashire.

Lemn’s then moved from Atherton to the city of Manchester, where he worked at Commonword as a literature developer. From then on Lemn’s was able to publish even more poems, and finally would win his first award in 2006 witch was called UK Commision for Racial Equality’s.where he would go on to win 16 more awards from 2010 to 2023.

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Lemn Sissay has success
written on his forehead.
The Guardian

Lemn Sissay has been making Landmarks since 1994. His his poems are tattooed upon the body of the world. From The Royal Children's Hospital to The Turner Art Gallery in Margate. From the Royal Festival Hall of London to The British Council Offices of Addis Ababa. His poem 'Gilt of Cain' in The City of London was unveiled by Bishop Desmond Tutu.

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Lemn Sissay has been making Landmarks since 1994. His his poems are tattooed upon the body of the world. From The Royal Children's Hospital to The Turner Art Gallery in Margate. From the Royal Festival Hall of London to The British Council Offices of Addis Ababa.

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Lemn Sissay was born on May 21 1967. He was a foster child. When he was 12 years old his foster parents had 3 biological children so they put Sissay into a children's home and no one from his family could contact him again. When he was 12 through 17 he went to four different children's homes. He then aged out of the care system and had no family to go to, so he was given his birth certificate and  he was able to find out his real moms name Yemarshet Sissay and his real name Lemn Sissay.

After Sissay grew up he was a literature development worker at commonword, a community publishing cooperative in Manchester. When he was 21 he met his birth mother after a long search. He wrote his first book of poetry when he was 21 and since he was the age of 24 he has been a full time writer.

Lemn Sissay's accomplishments

Race in the media award

New years honours NBE

Honorary doctor of letters university of huddersfield

Fellow of Foundling Museum

Citation from congress

Chancellor at University of Manchester

NESTA new racial award

BAFTA nominee

Freedom of the city of london

Queen’s birthday honors
Winner indie books awards

Broadcast awards - nominee

RTS award - nominee

Grierson award- nominee

PEN printer prize

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Lemn Sissay had a humble beginning and as did graphene. Graphene was a product of doing an experiment not knowing it would turn out as big as it did, and reflecting on what Lemn Sissay did when he first discovered poetry he experimented and went out to pubs and public places to sell his first book and to his surprise people did buy it. Graphene can be used for so many things to make life better and is really rare but it is in the palm of your hand, as Lemn Sissay says in his poem, The World Wakes “ the wonder stuff in the palm of your hand” and i think that also reflects on his life to, he made his life better using skills that no one knew of until he did some writing and now it is his whole life. He did a great job connecting his life to graphene. (I need more time)

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Lemn Sissay the son of Yemarshet Sissay and Giddey Estifanos was born May 21 1967 in Billinge Hospital, near Wigan and soon after being born was taken by a social worker assigned to his mother by Wigan Social Services, found foster parents for Sissay while his mother left to finish her studies. When Sissay was 12 years old, his foster parents who, by then, had three biological children of their own placed him in a children's home because They said the devil had gotten into him, they couldn’t cope and said that no one from their family would contact him again. Between the ages of 12 and 17, Sissay was held in a total of four children's homes.

Sissay in 1985 self published his first poetry book Perceptions of The Pen. Later on Sissay was commissioned by the Museum of Science and Industry to write a poem on graphene for their Wonder Materials: Graphene and Beyond exhibition Sissay has also won many awards like

2023 Freedom of The City of London, 2023 Honorary Doctor Leicester University, 2023 Honorary Fellow Mansfield College Oxford, 2022 Manchester Culture Awards: Special recognition award, 2022 Ness Award Royal Geographical Society, 2022 Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature #FRSL, 2022 Making A Difference Award University of Manchester, 2022 Honorary Chair in Creative Writing University of Manchester, 2022 Honorary Bencher Inner Temple, 2021 Honorary Fellow Jesus College Cambridge, 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours OBE, 2021 Grierson Award - Nominee, 2021 Winner Indie Book Awards (non Fiction), 2021 Essex University Honorary Doctorate, 2021 Broadcast Awards - nominee, 2020 RTS Award - nominee, 2019 Grierson Award - nominee, 2019 PEN Pinter Prize.

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Authors Bio

Lemn Sissay spent his childhood in foster care and in an out of 4 childrens homes from the age of 12 to 17, he got taken into foster care when he was born and wasn't able to contact his mother until he got out of the children's homes at age 18. Once he got out of the children's homes he started writing poetry about his childhood and family life trauma and giving out photocopies whenever he could. Lemn Sissay was a chancellor at Manchester university where graphene was discovered. The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester UK asked and paid Lemn Sissay to write a poem about graphene. In the poem The World Wakes, Lemn Sissay writes about the uses of graphene.

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Lemn Sissay, born in 1967, lives in Manchester, England. He had a rough childhood of being put into foster care when he was born, and then getting kicked out of his foster home when he was 12 years old. He was reunited with his mother at 18, when she said that his name meant “why” in Ethiopia's Amharic language. Lemn has accomplished many things such as writing 16 books that he photocopied and brought to ethnic group meetings hoping that they would be interested in reading and buying them. He also became an OBE(Order of the British Empire) which he said that his younger self would be “astonished”. "If I had said to him that one day, you will be in Windsor Castle to receive an OBE from Prince Charles, I would never have believed that kind of magical story - almost fairytale - would happen," he said. Graphene represents how Lemn had a rough childhood and graphene makes new beginnings for the future and the evolution of humankind. Graphene was created at the Manchester University in 2003 by a couple of scientists who were goofing around by using scotch tape and peeling layers of graphite off and that's when they discovered graphene. This symbolizes Lemn’s life because Lemn went from being in a children's home and losing his identity to becoming a very famous writer and poet. So even though Lemn Sissay had a humble life in foster care he found a way to be known and share his stories with people to read and see.

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Lemn sissay was born in britain (1967)  when he was young he was put in foster care and by the age of 12 to 17 he went to 4 different foster homes. thay treated him poorly to say the least his he has published 5 books  his home town collage reached out to him asking to make a poem about ther discovery of graphen the first 2d material he agreed and evean founded a museum for graphen he has earned many awards including an MBE for services to literature by The Queen of England, The Pen Pinter Prize and a Points of Light Award from The Prime Minister.

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Lemn Sissay was born in 1967 in Wigan. He was given up for adoption to his foster parents even though his mother refused to write the papers and wanted him back. He was also given the name of Norman even though he was an Ethiopian boy. At 12 he became difficult to manage and his foster family gave him up and he ended spending the rest of his years 12-18 in and out of foster homes where he was abused emotionally, racially, and physically. When Sissay turned 18 he asked for his files, but he couldn't get them. He was given information that told him that his name wasn’t Norman and a letter that his mom wrote pleading the social workers to give him back to her. This showed him that his whole life had been a lie.

At 17 Sissay used his unemployment money and everything he had saved up to self publish his first collection of poems called Perceptions of The Pen. In Sissays poem The World Wakes he talks about how graphite became graphene and how it was accidentally discovered by two scientists playing around in a lab he says in his poem “ found the future on a sticky tricky backhand” Which relates back to the fact that the graphene was discovered by the scientists using a piece of sticky tape.

This poem relates back to his life because when Sissay self-published that first book of poems he was only 17 and he had just discovered that his life was a lie, and he was left with nothing and nobody. He didn’t expect to become famous for his poetry. It was a happy accident that ended up changing his life completely for the better, as someone who grew up and started from absolutely nothing he was able to share his writing and make a name for himself, just like how graphene was discovered it was discovered by accident and wasn’t meant to happen but it did and changed the world. Which is why the tone of the poem talks about hope and how dreams and change are attainable because that is what was able to happen to him.

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Meeting the Author(Summative) - Nick Curtiss

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Meeting the Author(Summative) - Nick Curtiss

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Lemn Sissay's poem The World Wakes is about graphene and how its the future. Graphene was discovered almost accidentally by peeling layers of graphite off with scotch tape at the University of Manchester. This relates to Sissay because he became the poet he is now pretty much accidentally. He was brought up in foster care basically taken from his mother by Britain and handed to a family. This family was very strict, had decent money, and worst of all renamed Lemn, Norman. This was when he was very young from about a year old to age 12 when he got kicked out for being disobedient. Lemn always really enjoyed writing poetry and in 1985 he published some of his work with all the remaining money the country gave him. He sold this work at pubs, protests, and anywhere he can be heard. So he didn't really think he would go so far with poetry much like the scientist in the University of Manchester had no idea what they were looking for that night they found graphene.

- Nicholas Curtiss

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Lemn Sissay biography and connection to "The World Wakes"

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Lemn Sissay biography and connection to "The World Wakes"

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Sissay was basically forced into foster care, being in the care of a white family in the North West of England. He jumped from care after care, to group homes. He didn't know his parents. He had never met his mom, and his dad was a pilot, but died in a plane crash. Sissay’s parents are from Ethiopia, but Lemn himself was born in England. He is a musician, a stand up comedian, a radio and television producer, a playwright, and a poet. He has never married, and has no children. He now works at the University of Manchester as a chancellor, in Manchester, England. Lemn was awarded an MBE for services to literature by The Queen of England, The Pen Pinter Prize in 2019 and a Points of Light Award from The Prime Minister.

I think that the connection between Sissay’s life and his poem “The World Wakes” is that something so little can become so big. He was in foster care his whole life, he had never met his parents but he still turned out to be successful. Just like in the poem, something as little as graphite, can become graphene, which can shape future, change the world. Lemn had found himself in group homes, being knocked around between cares, writing poems for comfort, which got publicized and he gained fame. He became someone who makes an impact on the world. Like how graphene came from graphite on “a sticky tricky backhand”.

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Lemn Sissay’s poem “The World Wakes” talks about the possibilities that could happen stemming from graphene use. The British poet talks about his past and mistreatment in the healthcare system, and how he got taken from his Ethiopian mother at birth. He later became a poet and wrote about many different things. “The World Wakes” brings up big ideas for the future that Lemn writes about, an example being “Mak[ing] cities float.” and “March[ing] an elephant through a needle's eye” these quotes explain that with the use of graphene many things are possible. Even if it defies what we think we know today.

Lemn Sissay was put into foster care by working class white people. When he grew up to become rebellious, like any other kid, his foster parents decided they didn’t want to see him at the age of 12. He would go on to be put in multiple other foster homes which all abused him in many ways. Racially, emotionally, and even physically. For a trivial painted toy he was sent to an assessment unit which had no freedom. At 18 he was giving minimal resources to live, and no connection to his family. The authorities wouldn’t give him his files, only two notes containing his real name (he was given a different name when he got put into care,) and a note of his mother proving that she did not abandon him, which is what he had been told. Eventually he got a hold of his files, but not before the damage to his life was already done. He suffered from depression, and would disappear to the public for months at a time. His years until 21 were unanswered until he finally met with his mother, who he grew close with overtime. His literary career would take him many places.

The reason graphene was so important for Sissay was because graphene was a complete accident. It was extracted by sticky tape by 2 scientists in a lab. This is really similar to how his poetry career started. He wrote a poem book self published for himself, which ended up in pubs, political marches, and stand up performances, and eventually more. The book was a big shot to Sissays career and ultimately was a complete turn of events for him. He didn’t know if the book he self published would become the importance it holds today. Yet just like the invention of graphene, an accident can turn into bigger things. Things never imagined, for Sissay, it was fame, fortune, and his voice. For graphene, its scientific achievements, technological advancement, and more, both and all in flatland.

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Lemn Sissay grew up with a tough life. When he was born, his mother was still very young, and she had to put Lemn into foster care. Lemn’s foster parents were strict, but they cared for him. Having a rough childhood caused Lemn to misbehave sometimes. At the age of twelve, he would eat cake when he’s not supposed to, and stay out late. This caused his foster parents to get rid of him. From ages twelve to eighteen, he bounced from foster home to foster home, being physically, emotionally, and racially abused. Lemn started writing poetry when he moved into the children’s home. Poetry came naturally to Lemn, as his dad was an English teacher, there were plenty of books for him to learn from. Lemn wrote a poem called “The World Wakes”, which is one of his most famous poems. This poem is about the uses of graphene that can help with the future and to make innovative technology. In the poem, Lemn talks about making unthinkable things happen, with advancing technology. This can relate to Lemns childhood and life because Lemn had a very hard childhood, but he did the unthinkable and became an extremely influential person, who writes very meaningful poems. He has accomplished so much despite the fact that he didn’t have any resources growing up. Graphene was discovered accidentally, when two scientists were playing around in the lab. Similarly, Lemn did not intend on becoming a poet, but he found he was good at it and started selling his poems.

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Lemn Sissay is 56, when he was two months old he was put into foster care because his mother didn’t want to put him up for adoption, but she had to finish her studies in Ethiopia. Lemn was kept in foster homes till he was 12, then he was put into a line of children's homes. After he was out of the children's homes he was left with almost nothing, and all he wanted to do with his life was find his family and write poetry. He found out his mother worked for the United Nations Development Programme when he was 21, and called her asking if she was his mother. Lemn has published multiple highly acclaimed books, poetry, plays and other writings. He served a seven year team as Chancellor of the University of Manchester. He’s received six honorary doctorates from University of Manchester, Essex University, University of Kent, University of Huddersfield, University of Brunel, and Leicester University. He became a poet, an author, and a performer. He’s currently a radio broadcaster and makes documentaries for BBC. Lemns childhood was taken away from him since he was in many different homes when he was a child, but his dream of becoming a poet helped him get from nothing, to who he is today. Just like graphite is taken for granted as something we use everyday to write, and turns into graphene being the future of everything.

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Amelia O'Mara

Lemn Sissay was born in Wigan, Lancashire, 1967. His mother, Yermarshet, found out she was pregnant in 1966 when she arrived in england. Yermarshet was supposed to temporarily give Lemn to social services while she was not able to care for him; however Lemn and his mother did not meet again until he was 21 years old. Lemn grew up with the name that his foster family provided, Norman Greenwood. He didn't find out his birth name was Lemn Sissay, until he got out of the care system. He stayed with his foster family until they had 3 of their own children. His foster parents were very religious, and as Lemn states “...they’d never had [to deal with] an adolescent before. So, stealing biscuits from the tin, taking pieces of cake without saying please and thank you, staying out late at night, the occasional cigarette – they saw this as the devil working inside of me.” From there he was moved around to different children's homes until he left foster care at age 18. At age 21, after 4 years of searching, Lemn tracked down his birth mother and discovered she was working for the United Nations Development Programme in Gambia. In that same year, 1988, Lemn published his first book of poems, Tender Fingers in a Clenched Fist, and started to sell it. In 2010 he was awarded an MBE for services to literature By the Queen of england. And In 2017 he received the Points of Lights award from the prime minister. On July 22nd 2016 Lemn Sissay opened  ‘Wonder Materials: Graphene & Beyond’ at the museum of science and industry. This tells the meaning behind graphene and how it was the first two dimensional material in the world. According to LopaPatel; “This ground-breaking show combines science, art and history to reveal the inspiring story of this amazing material. Made from a single, one-atom layer of carbon, graphene is invisible to the naked eye but has the potential to change the world in a host of areas from energy and electronics to healthcare and mobile phones.” This ties back to Lemn Sissay's Poem The world wakes By talking about the importance of Graphene and its transparency. This shows how despite the fact that Lemn grew up without security and stability he still made his way up all by himself. Now he has received several awards and published many pieces of work without any guidance and help.

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Lemn Sissay is one of a kind. He’s literally the only person in the world who is named Lemn Sissay. He is a decorated poet, playwright, broadcaster, and speaker. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics and has been given many awards for his work including a BAFTA nomination, the Pen Pinter prize, the Points of Light Award, and an MBE for services to literature given to him by the Queen of England. Sissay is the author of fifteen books which include five poetry collections. His most famous works include Tender fingers in a clenched fist, Listener, and many more. Sissay was born in Billinge, Wigan, Lancashire, England, UK on May 21, 1967. His mother put him up for adoption and he started his life in England's foster system with the name “Norman Mark Greenwood”. He lived with a foster family until the age of 12. He would then spend the rest of his childhood until he was 18 in foster homes. He began his career as a poet when he was 17 he used his unemployment money to self-publish his first poetry Pamphlet called Perceptions of the Pen. One might say that Lemn Sissay went from being graphite to being graphene. He had a harrowing childhood but it shaped him to become a successful and spectacular poet by his adulthood. In his poem “The World Wakes” he says “overland underground wonderland flatland” which is a metaphor of how anything is possible for him now.

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Lemn Sissay is a British writer who has written 15 books 5 of those are poetry books. He is also the chancellor of the University of manchester. But from the research I've done I have realized his childhood wasn't average or an enjoyable one. His mother wouldn't sign the adoption papers saying she wanted him fostered while she studied but she never adopted him. He was adopted by a foster family (they would go on to have three kids) and his adoptive father fueled his craft by always having books in the house because he was an English teacher. But at the age of 12 his foster parents gave him up for adoption. He then spent the remainder of his childhood traveling to children's homes. He explains in an interview that there was no warmth in the homes. He explains how there were gifts on Christmas in a children's home but no connection that makes Christmas important. After this he said he would not marry or have kids till he found his biological family and found his mother. In his late 20s he found his mother named Yemarshet Sissay which he still is in contact with now. He is still not married and has no kids but he says in an interview that “yes, he would love to settle down with someone.” He has also been able to prevail and make a good living with a net worth of 5 million dollars. In his poem The World Wakes He explains how life has many challenges but with graphene the world can improve many qualities of life. But this also relates to his own life where he had several big problems in his childhood but then when he grew up he was able to overcome them and prosper. He says in the poem “found in the future on a sticky tricky backhand” which can be seen by how he had a past that started out poor and unwanted but in his future in current time he has accomplished remarkable things and has improved his daily life. This shows because “sticky tricky backhand” is his past while “Found in the future” is his present. He says stuff that hasn't been made possible yet like saying “make cities float” or “ride solo in the sky” which shows how even though things can be impossible like how him coming from basically nothing to rich is almost impossible can be achieved with perseverance like his. He shows that life can go from nothing to everything you have dreamed of. Kind of like how the poem goes from graphite to graphene.

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Lemn sissay is a famous poet who was born in 1967 in Wigan, England and now lives in manchester. At 18 he moved to manchester to pursue his career in literature and then released his first book at the age of 21 called ¨tender fingers in a clenched fist.¨ In 2015 he was elected as chancellor of the university of Manchester for a seven year term. He wrote ¨the world wakes¨ in 2016 about graphene and its creative uses in today's world. Going from graphite, which is just a small thing that's found in pencils at the beginning of the poem to graphene and all of its uses is somewhat a parallel to Lemns own life. He lived in foster homes Up till the age of 12 and started writing poetry as soon as he moved into his first one. He went from being a foster kid, moving from home to home to a famous poet who is determined to make a change in the world with his words and writing.

- Kerra Kennedy

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Lemn Sissay about the author- Cole Marcinko

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Lemn Sissay about the author- Cole Marcinko

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British author Lemn Sissay had a rough childhood, he had never met his parents so he stayed in a variety of care homes. He was physically, emotionally, and racially abused and almost always had someone watching over his shoulder. Every time he had friends over he was strip-searched by guards. He didn't even know what his own name was. When he moved out of the care home he was given a flat with no bed so he had to sleep on the floor. Until one day he was given 2 pieces of paper. These papers told him that his whole life was a lie. The paper said that his mother had written to a worker that she begged to have him back. It also said that his real name was Lemn Sissay.

Even with that tough childhood Lemn Sissay pushed through and became a famous poet. He wrote his first book when he was 21 and he is now 56 years old. He has published about 10 books, written mutable plays, and published 5 poetry collections. His most famous poems are Tender Fingers in a Clenched Fist, Rebel Without Applause, Morning Breaks in the Elevator, The Emperor's Watchmaker, and Listener. Even though he grew up with not even a penny to spare he now has a net worth of 5 million dollars.

His whole life is kind of like his poem The World Wakes. The poem is about using graphene to improve the future into the best it can possibly be. This connects to his real life because he started out as a poor kid in a care home with no parents, but now he is a millionaire, poet, and author. He was even awarded an MBE for services to literature by The Queen of England in 2010 and a Points of Light Award from the Prime Minister in 2017. Graphene has a very rare chance of being discovered, like Lemn Sissay's chance of success he went from a nobody to a millionaire poet.

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Lemn Sissay’s poem “The World Wakes” talks about the advantages and wonders when graphene will be used in everyday life. At first, the poems start off by talking about graphite and how “brilliance” will outdo graphite, “Brilliance explodes the darkness of graphite A beam reveals the mysteries of night” it then talks about graphene which implies that graphene is an upgraded version of graphite. This poem could also connect to Lemn Sissay’s life as the start of his life wasn’t that well of a childhood and then upgraded to an adult life that is better than an ordinary adult life. For example, at the beginning of Lemn Sissay’s life, he was taken away from his mother and became a foster child at just the age of 2 months after age 12 he wasn’t wanted anymore and was kicked out of his foster home and lived in care homes after care homes where he would face abuse. Fortunately at the start of his adult life things were going great for Lemn Sisay, after he became a full-time writer he wrote over 10 books and won many awards such as an MBE, Pen Printer Prize, and the Points of Light Award, he was also the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics and was chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022. This can now relate to his own creation “The World Wakes” as the central idea of this poem is how scientific discoveries can improve lifestyles coincidentally Lemn Sissay discovered himself and wrote literature and it won him awards plus it greatly improved his life as his childhood has him separated from his parents and him facing abuse.

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In Lemn Sissay's poem “The World Wakes” he starts the poem with graphite, the material that all pencils have to make them draw. I think he uses graphite to symbolize the beginning of his life and how it was difficult because he was given to social services by his mother and grew up with foster parents. Throughout the poem, Sissay shows lots of hope and optimism and how nothing is impossible for example some of the things his poem says are: “Think the unthinkable”

“Take the vast sea and make it drinkable” and “The future is as wide as dreams are high” These quotes from the poem show Sissay's feelings towards his life and how he aimed high and worked hard to become successful and make something great from something that didn’t start great. By the end of the poem Sissay mentions graphene and not graphite. The poem shows how he went from graphite to graphene. He didn’t have a rich childhood he had struggle some one without his mother and foster parents, but he worked hard and did the unthinkable and became “Graphene” a famous poet with many awards and no longer struggling like he was early in his life.

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Lemn Sissay, now 56 years old and an accomplished poet was once an orphan. During his early life, he went to many foster homes where he was mistreated. With one family he would get in trouble for the littlest things, one time he ate a piece of cake when he wasn't supposed to or would sneak out, so quickly he was sent back to the system and his foster parents never wanted to see him again. In his 18 years in the foster system, he was lied to, and beaten, to him it felt like he was incarcerated. The only time he felt happy was when he was on stage or writing his poems. Lemn Sisaay has won many awards for his writings one of the most important was the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) an award given to the recipient by the king or queen of England. The award is for an achievement or service to the community that is outstanding in its field and has delivered a real impact that stands out to others. From Lemn Sissay going from a little boy who was mistreated, abused, and lied to, surviving the system, and now an extremely accomplished and highly respected poet shows that anything is possible if you have the courage and willingness to keep moving forward and to never give up on yourself.
In The World Wakes by Lemn Sissay, the poem tells about a wonders thing called graphene, it makes us able to think the unthinkable, to take the vast sea and make it drinkable. Graphene is really the hope and strength of one or more people having the will to make new discoveries and make the world a better place. Lemn Sissay had to have strength, hope, and will to survive his early life in the system and become the amazing poet he is now.

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Lemn Sissay and "The World Wakes" Analysis 

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Lemn Sissay and "The World Wakes" Analysis 

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British writer Lemn Sissay was born on May 21, 1967 in Higher End, Orrell, UK, making him fifty-three years old. Lemn grew up in foster care to the age of twelve, when he was then placed in children's homes through his late teens, not knowing his real parents. Sissay claims to have happy childhood memories, and that his foster parents were good people that did bad things. At twelve, his parents said to him: “We’re never going to write to you, we’re never going to come.” Lemn never would have believed that his foster parents would do this to him, betray him. Never been married, Sissay does not have any children either. He pledged that he would never do so until he found his biological family. In his late twenties, he found and came in touch with his birth mother, Yemarshet Sissay. At the age of seventeen, Sissay used money from his unemployment benefit to publish his first pamphlet of poetry, and had to run photocopies himself to get his literature out to the public. From 1985 to present day, Lemn has fourteen publications so far. He has been on six BBC radio plays, and launched nine productions (theater arts). Across the years from 2004-2019 Sissay has earned seventeen awards, including an MBE for literature by The Queen of England, The Pen Pinter Prize, and a Points of Light Award from The Prime Minister. I can relate Lemn Sissay’s life to his poem “The World Wakes” because he was able to use writing, relating to graphene, to turn his life around. A quote from his text: “Let’s build; think the unthinkable Take the vast sea and make it drinkable.” It is saying to think about something you never thought of before, even if it seems impossible. You cannot drink water from the sea, you would die, unless you make it drinkable. That is exactly what he did by sharing his passion through his art, when he was never handed a gold ticket or born into immense amounts of wealth. This can all show that he has significant passion for his literary work, and he uses multiple forms of such to share his talent and ideas.

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Lemn Sissay, The World Wakes Analysis- Eliana Mexhuani

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Lemn Sissay, The World Wakes Analysis- Eliana Mexhuani

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Lemn Sissay is a British poet who wrote a poem called The World Wakes. Sissay lived a very  difficult life, first, he was a foster child who had a not so friendly foster family. The backstory of why he became a foster child was because his mom had moved from Ethiopia to the UK without knowing she was pregnant, so she gave Sissay up to foster care temporarily while she focused on her studies. Instead, His social worker assigned him to a very religious white foster family, so Sissay’s social worker convinced him that his name was Norman Mark Greenwood; he didn’t learn his real name until he was 17. Originally, Sissay loved his foster family, but they did not feel the same way about him. They sent him to a children’s home and he never heard from them ever again. A year before Sissay could leave the system, they put him in an assessment centre called “Wood End” where to this day police are investigating many sexual assault and abuse cases. At Wood End, Sissay was stripsearched, beaten, watched in the shower, and put in a padded cell-- As if he were a criminal. Once he finally left, he searched everywhere to find his family, but when he found them, he realised that he couldn’t put himself into someone else’s life after not being in it for that many years. He used poetry as a refuge, as a way to express himself when he had nobody to talk to.

At 18, he published his first poetry book, which included the poem The World Wakes. This poem says a lot about Lemn’s childhood and early life and how he had to change the script. The World Wakes talks about how in order to accomplish your dreams or what you believe in,  YOU have to believe that you have the power, graphene. “Overland, underground, wonderland flatland” all places of imagination, opportunity, and freedom.  And now, Sissay is the new chancellor of the University of Manchester. In whom he beat Peter Mandelson, a British politician, as a highschool dropout. Sissay had to rebuild his life from the ground up, and because he believed in himself, he made it.

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The World Wakes Analysis - Cecelia Marriott

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The World Wakes Analysis - Cecelia Marriott

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Lemn Sissay’s mother is Ethiopian and he was born in 1967 in Wigan, UK. At just two months old he was sent to foster care and went from home to home where he was physically, emotionally, and racially abused. As he grew up he started to discover poetry as a way to get his thoughts and feelings out. In all the tough times he faced as a child, the art of being able to put your feelings out on a page to create a story kept him going. At 18, he was released from foster care but it wasn’t what was supposed to happen. He was given nothing but a flat with no bed. The head of social services decided that he didn’t deserve to go into the world with money, so they sent him out without a single penny to his name.

He struggled as he grew up with alcohol use disorder, PTSD, and many more mental issues that challenged him. The way he was treated as a child made it difficult for him to achieve success, but that didn’t stop him. He became a poet, playwright, musician, producer, and stand-up comedian. Some of the top awards he received were an MBE by The Queen of England for services to literature, The Pen Pinter Prize, and a Points of Light award by The Prime Minister.

Lemn Sissay’s poem “The World Wakes” is about taking the little he grew up with, and making it into something big. In his poem he uses the example of graphite - the mineral that can be used to create different things to graphene - this wonder stuff that can change your life. The graphite is the horrific childhood he experienced, the little he had, and the graphene is this wonderful thing that made him get to where he is now. He was once this little boy with nothing, and is now this world-wide known artist with numerous pieces of work like poems, books, talks, etc. His poem is about taking what you have, and making a future for yourself.

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Born on the 21st of May 1967, Lemn Sissay was taken from his mother, a woman from Ethiopia who had moved to Berkshire, England and moved into foster care. His father, an airline pilot for Ethiopian airlines, died in a plane crash in 1972. Growing up in England with his adopted parents, Sissay was continuously mistreated. However, he continued to both work on his poetry and to search for his birth mother, until moving out at the age of 18, later finding his mother at the age of 21.

His career took off after his creation of a BBC documentary Internal Flight. The documentary tells the story of his life. Later his book Something Dark addressed his search for family. Lemn Sissay was commissioned by the Museum of Science and Industry to write a poem about their Wonder Materials: Graphene and Beyond exhibition. Sissay wanted to use The World Wakes as a way to express graphene's potential in the real world. While some have expressed concerns about the use of graphene and its possible use in making weapons, Sissay says “Graphene should inspire people to come up with incredible uses for it”.

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Lemn Sissay is a British writer and poet, born May 21, 1967. He is most known for his five poetry collections, Tender Fingers in a Clenched Fist (1988), Rebel Without Applause (1992), Morning Breaks in the Elevator (1999), The Emperor's Watchmaker (2000), and Listener (2008). In his early life, Lemn Sissay faced great hardship. His mother, Yesmarshet Sissay, was from Ethiopia, but later moved to Britain. His birth father, Giddy Estifanos, died in a plane crash in 1972, when Lemn was only 5 years old. Sissay was born in Billinge Hospital near Wigan, Lancashire. Norman Goldthrope, a social worker at Wigan Social Services, helped Sissay find foster parents when his mother had to return to Bracknell to finish her studies. He finally reunited with his mother, who was working for the United Nations, after a long search when he was 21 years old. Sissay published his first poetry pamphlet, titled “Perceptions of the Pen”, when he was 17. Four years later, his first book was written, Tender Fingers In A Clenched Fist. A less well-known profession belonging to Sissay is that he is a broadcaster. He previously had a series on BBC Radio 4, called Social Enterprise, Origin Stories, and an award nominated show called Homecoming. Collaborating with a fellow poet, Henry Normal, Sissay will soon be releasing a new show coming out on March 3rd 2023. Its title is Lemn Sissay Is The One And Only, and his show will be a mix of stand up comedy, poetry readings, conversation, and serious and entertaining interviews. Lemn Sissay has not only become a successful writer, but has won and been nominated for multiple awards. “He was awarded an MBE for services to literature by The Queen of England, The Pen Pinter Prize and a Points of Light Award from The Prime Minister,” states his own website, lemnsissay.com. From losing his family and his inspiring journey of his early years, Lemn Sissay has come a long way to be the person he is today. His poem, “The World Wakes”, is about possibility, and creating things from solely graphene. This connects to his life in that he has shaped his career from the hardship he faced when he was young, to be the stable, successful writer he is now. For learning more about Sissay, you can visit his instagram page, @sissaylemn or website, lemnsissay.com.

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Lemn Sissay is a British author and broadcaster. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, was chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trustees two years later, He was awarded the 2019 PEN Pinter Prize. He has written a number of books and plays. In The World Wakes, poet Lemn Sissay has produced a powerful call for creative ideas to help realize graphene’s potential. For Sissay, graphene should inspire people to come up with incredible uses for it. Graphene also could be used to get rid of cancer cells, which he talks about in the poem when he says “Wear Graphene sensors upon the skin, which pulsate when alerted there's illness within” the world’s first two-dimensional material which was isolated by scientists in Manchester. Made from a single, one-atom layer of carbon, graphene is invisible to the naked eye but has the potential to change the world in a host of areas from energy and electronics to healthcare and mobile phones. The quote “sticky tricky backhand” could be referring to how the graphene was discovered because graphene and graphite were separated by a piece of scotch tape, by some scientists. Without the imagination, nothing would happen, the buildings have to be imagined before they can be built and that is as relative as the actual, physical structure. When he talks about throwing text on window screens” he's talking about how graphene can make tvs just 2 mm thick, and they could just pop up on your screen. In the quote “make the vast sea drinkable” he is talking about how graphene can filter the water and the sea could become drinking water. He has many visions for what the future will be like. And as a kid he went through foster homes knowing life will get better and it did, so we should have that same attitude.

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British author and poet, Lemn Sissay is 56 years old and lives in Higher End, England. In addition to being an author and poet, he is also an actor. Sissay had a hard upcoming, being put in care at just 2 months old, being physically, emotionally, and racially abused. He has been awarded an MBE for services to literature by The Queen of England, the Pen Printer Prize and Light Award from the Prime minister, and he was a BAFTA nominated International Prize Winning Writer.

Lemn Sissay’s life and “The World Wakes” vastly connect to each other. Sissay did not have an easy childhood. With all the abuse he suffered, he went to writing and acting as a place of comfort. With a flat with no bed and no money, he created an immensely successful life for himself. The poem starts from just graphite, the stuff that fills your pencil and grew to the idea of graphene which you can create anything from. Both the poem and his life started from something small to the unthinkable The poem centers around the idea that with an open mind we can create unimaginable things in the future. He did just that.

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Lemn Sissay, author of “The World Wakes” is a 56 year old British writer who has a very interesting and saddening upbringing. Starting when Lemn was born, he was taken away from his mother and put directly into the care system. He was not given into the care system willingly by his mother either, his mother was forced to hand him over to social services. When Lemn entered the care system, he was renamed Norman by a worker with the same name, and was not told his real name nor the name of his birth mother until much later on. After he was renamed, he was then placed into a very religious home until the age of 12, where he was placed back into the care system unexpectedly. For the next 8 years, he moved around from home to home and basically just passed around foster families. One of these homes was considered “more like a prison” to some people, during his time at this home, he endured mental and physical abuse. When he eventually turned 18, he went and found his birth mother and his poetry blossomed. In an interview with Northern Soul, his poem “The World Wakes” was discussed and he said something that stuck out “ “My job, really, is to investigate what could happen, what great things could occur, what great things could become reality.” I think that this was interesting to me because it makes me think about what the poem is about. When he says “what great things could become reality” it shows that everything is a possibility and that it can become reality when the right person does something with it. That piece of the quote also make me think about a quote from “The World Wakes”, when the poem says “take the vast sea and make it drinkable” it makes me think about how the poem isn’t just about graphene in general, but it is about a whole world of scientific discoveries and how science plays such a big role in our society. Now the poem also has a line that is recurring saying “sticky tricky backhand” which got me wondering why that was the choice of words. When looking, I found that “sticky tricky backhand” is referring to the way that graphene was found. Graphene was found when  scotch tape was put in graphite and it pulled out graphene. Another quote from the poem I think could relate to Lemn Sissay’s life in a way because when the poem says “the future is wide as dreams are high” I was thinking about how when he was younger, he didn’t know his birth mother or even his real name, knowing all of this was just something that couldn’t happen, but when he turned 18, he found his mother and figured out what his real name was. As well as this, the quote “solve the unsolvable” also relates to this idea of everything about his birth mother being hidden and him only figuring it all out as he got older, something “unsolvable” was figured out, he just needed to set his mind to doing it. Overall, I think that “The World Wakes” is about how to take just theories, dreams, and ideas, to possibilities and do the things that just started as an “unsolvable” dream. I also think that it could relate to Lemn Sissay’s difficult childhood and upbringing, being adopted so young and then being placed into abusive homes at fault of the care system. He then did the “unthinkable” and found his birth mother and his real name, not the fake name that was given to him through the foster care system. He started from the bottom (graphite) and then worked his way up to what is at the end of the poem (graphene).

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Lemn Sissay, author of ¨The World Wakes¨ and other texts, BBC broadcaster, and award winner, was born to a young Ethiopian woman in 1967. He was then put up for adoption – against his mother´s will – and was given a new name. For the first twelve years of his life, he lived with one family. After those twelve years, he was put back up for adoption. From there, until he was 18, he was abused in many ways, in many families. He has fought to find information about his past, and has made a name for himself as an author, poet, and broadcaster since then. In his poem ¨The World Wakes¨, there are connections between Lemn Sissay´s life, and the lines in the poem.
The main connection between "The World Wakes" and Lemn Sissay's life is the path both have taken . "The World Wakes" talks about how the discovery of graphene has opened up so many possibilities and that it had the possibility to make possible what was originally thought of as impossible. Graphene was discovered by peeling layers of graphite with scotch tape. Lemn Sissay's life is similar to the discovery of graphene. He was almost constantly being abused in the first 18 years of his life. His potential was hidden by this abuse, just like the graphene was hidden by the graphite. Eventually, year by year, he was closer to being able to leave the abusive families he was apart of. Eventually, layer by layer, graphene was closer to being found. When Lemn Sissay finally turned 18, he had the whole world before him to do with as he wished. When graphene was discovered, there were so many possibilities that could be created by it: make sea water drinkable, create high tech that has never been seen before. Graphene had the potential to make what was originally thought impossible. Lemn Sissay had the potential to do something impossible by making a life for himself and a name for himself with his words. In other words, the poem "The World Wakes" and Lemn Sissay's life are connected through the way they both had the possibility of making something out of what was thought of as nothing.

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Lemn Sissay was born on May, 21, 1967, his father  died in a plane crash when he was only 6 years old, leaving him as an orphan. Lemn moved from foster house to foster house, but it was too late, he was forced to leave the foster care system. At the age of 21 Lemn wrote his first book on poetry. As of right now, Lemn Sissay has written 14 books and has 35 awards for both his writing and speeches, including many high honors and prestigious awards given to him by the British congress and has even spoken at the former queen of England's birthday.

“The World Wakes.” He talks about the power of graphene and your imagination, this is because he has a big imagination, which got him through tough times. He also mentions something called “A sticky tricky backhand.” which we can associate with the creation of graphene, which was discovered by taking a hunk of graphite and taking scotch tape on and off the chunk of it. After a while all that was left was graphene. This connects to Lemn Sissay's life, because as a kid, we see Lemn continuously get kicked around by life, but after a while he turns into a beautiful poet, this leads to him being the shuck of graphite, and after being slowly "chipped" away, all that is left is graphene, or his new life.