Page 53 - Great Elizabethans

“I think I'll paint roads on my front room walls to convince myself that I'm going places.”
IMAGINATION IS KEY
Lemn’s sad, painful early life hurt him in many ways,
but it did not destroy him. He wrote poetry to help himself express his sadness and anger, and to explore much further than his cramped surroundings. He sold
his first small collection of poems door-to-door while cleaning people’s gutters. When he moved from Wigan to Manchester at the age of 21, his poetry was published in a book for the first time.
MY NAME IS WHY
After that, he wrote many poetry collections, stage plays and a memoir called My Name is Why (‘Lemn’ means ‘why’ in Amharic, the main language of Ethiopia). He performed his poetry on stages across the world, presenting the first National Poetry Slam in 2004.
Although Lemn found his birth family eventually, the years they had spent apart meant that it was now just too hard for him to form close bonds with them. But for the first time, Lemn began to see that he was loved. People were deeply moved by his poetry and performances. They valued his powerful work, and painted lines from it on many buildings in Manchester. Lemn’s poems are also carved into buildings across London,
like the Royal Festival Hall, and in other places around the world.
“I investigated the world through my imagination." MORE THAN ONE WAY TO LEARN
In 2010, Lemn was awarded an MBE for services to literature, and he was asked to be the first official
poet of the 2012 London Olympics. He even wrote the official poem for the 2015 FA Cup! That same year,
he was also made Chancellor of the University of Manchester, a hugely important position – and one that amazed Lemn, since he had never been to university himself. But his appointment proved that there is more than one way to learn, and that people who begin life with nothing can make art that speaks to everyone.
Lemn was keen to help other people who had grown up in foster care like him. In 2013, he set up a project called ‘The Christmas Dinners for Care Leavers’, so that young adult care leavers who may not have families to visit can celebrate together on Christmas Day. For years, Lemn had wanted an apology from the council that had let him down, and in 2018, he finally got it. Wigan Council sent Lemn the files
about his early life, gave him money as compensation, and apologised for the ways in which it had
failed him as a child. Although no one can give Lemn back his stolen family and childhood, he is
now beloved and celebrated, and his work has given hope and joy to thousands.