Maybe Mothers Day is connected to the other most significant day of this year: Sunday is the first Day of Spring. Read more [...]

On 3rd  March  I gave a speech at The Booktrust Conference. Here it is. Please have a listen and let me know what you think. http://www.lemnsissay.com/LemnSissayspeech.mp3. Read more [...]

This talk by Elizabeth Gilbert is everything I believe about creativity Read more [...]

The bicycle is beautiful but there is no time to ride it. By 6pm the journalist and I are off to see Warhorse at The Lyttleton Theatre in the grand National on the southbank of the thames Read more [...]

I turn only to be confronted by two police officers “What’s your problem” says a female officer with no trace of irony. My brain slips what is this? Read more [...]

But family has nothing to do with truth. My mother’s side of the family are distinct from my fathers side in that they remain as they always have been towards me. There's a certain unconditionality about that. It is what it is and it is all good. We all have a laugh over food and the hours pass easily. Come five PM and I have to run. We say goodbye. There’s no drama. There is in its varying degrees, love. I'm at ease with it all at last. As I leave I think that maybe I have arrived. Read more [...]

“you are here to interview a jazz musician. Who is he?” says the customs officer as he skims my visa details. “Gil Scott Heron”. I reply. His eyes don’t lift as he splays my passport “never heard of him” he says. Read more [...]

The sound of the motorway is the sound of sea... a constant shhhhhhhhh... The moon is the headlight of a lone motorcyclist weaving his way through the mist towards the gap. And the cars in the car park in front of me are turtles basking in the moonlight Read more [...]

In a whisper , and before I get to gulp my tea, I am whisked away to the first floor of the conference centre. Michael waves. Jaqueline Wilson is on the first floor. We are to do a photo-shoot together. She smiles confiudently at me. Read more [...]