Description

Lemn Sissay was seventeen when he wrote his first poetry book, which he hand-sold to the miners and millworkers of Wigan. Since then his poems have become landmarks, sculpted in granite and built from concrete, recorded on era-defining albums and declaimed in over thirty countries.

He has performed to thousands of football fans at the FA Cup Final, to hundreds of thousands as the poet of the London Olympics, and to millions across our TV screens and the airwaves of BBC Radio. He has become one of the nation’s best-loved voices.

Publisher Review

One of the most original, challenging poets writing in Britain today, and his extraordinary, heart-breaking, courageous life story is the stuff of legend . . . The collection showcases his breadth, his passion, his anger and his humanity . . . Full of light and hope . . . A prodigious talent * * Daily Mail, Poetry of the Year * * Hugely enjoyable, inventive, funny and touching * * Guardian * * Lemn Sissay is a passionate and powerful voice whose performances are humbling and exhilarating -- Kate Tempest A tremendous selection of his poetry . . . His gift as a writer - of plays, poetry, documentaries - is for turning life's base metal into gold * * Observer * * This volume of selected and new poems traces [Sissay's] path from gifted adolescent to accomplished poetic voice, railing with passion and prowess against the "quiet violence of the day-to-day" * * Financial Times * * A collection of the poet's best-loved works . . . The performative element to his poetry is evident but no vibrancy or emotion is lost on paper, where his honesty, charm and humour prevail . . . Gold from the Stone maps Sissay's development as a poet and writer but also his many personal triumphs, even when the odds were stacked against him **** * * The List * * A literary institution * * Big Issue * * A lyrical genius * * The Voice * * His name is magic, his poems are songs on the street * * Independent * *