May 7th Sunday. Within The Sunday Times Rich List is The Alternative Rich List.  I am honoured to be included.  Click here for alternative Rich List

Others includ David Attenborough, Vivienne Westwood,Click here for alternative Rich List

I’m in Canetrbury at The Wise Words Festival. At 11am I am speaking on what it means to be a writer. I spend much of it talking about Rebecca Swift and her thesis at TLC.

Later in the night I perform Something Dark as a dramatic reading. Just me and the script.
8th May Monday. South London.  It’s my first Leftfield rehearsal and I think it goes well.

Wed 10th May. 10 to 12pm. It’s the Technical rehearsal in South London.   Awesome.

Travel from London to Manchester and attend  HulmeHall Celebrations with speech.

The students and lecturers at University of Manchester are the best in the world.

On this night I stay at the newly refurbished Chancellors Hotel on Chancellors Way in Manchester. As Chancellor I highly  recommend this hotel. It’s beautiful

May 11th  Thursday.  I wake to this
At the University of Manchester I meet with The Law Department:  Project coordinator for Black Lawyers Matter Isobel Cox and honrorary lecturerTunde Okewale. In a month or two  The University will be  announcing The Lemn Sissay Law Scholarship.  
Now to the evening event. The Making A Difference Awards. You can watch it here.  It was my job to congratulate all the winners and direct them to the camera. The Awards are held in the most maginificent Venue. Witworth Hall.

This event inspires me and all of us at The University of Manchester. 
At the closing I read a poem specially commissioned. The this happened.
The Metro in Manchester flag up my Something Dark tour in October…..
May 12th. Friday I travel back to London to begin The Leftfield tour of Leftism in its entirety. It’s 22 years since the album came out and the first time I performed the track I wrote and recorded with Neil and It’s The 02 Apollo at Brixton Academy. We have two nights here. This is what it was like just before I stepped on stage

This is what it was like at the end.  I wasn’t happy with my performance
May 13th Saturday. London.  10.30am. Meet with Anna and Bobbi. Anna has returned from Ethiopia. We have breakfast at bread and Butter in Dalston.

I  leave for Brixton for a 5pm sound check.   I  put out an open call on twitter to meet anyone  for coffee. Fortunately the most talented man in literature replied.

So we caught the breeze and the breeze was warm and the sun dipped

I walked back to the venue.  At 9.15pm the concert starts and at 10.35pm I’m on stage. This was taken straight after my performance of 21st Century Poem for the 2nd time  .

At the same time my adaptation of Benjamin Zephaniah’s brilliant book Refugee Boy ends its run at  Chickenshed Theatre.  They  have done an amazing job.

Sunday 14th and Monday 15th May  were filled with meetings. Tuesday 16th I  travel to Surrey  to speak at a conference  of residential social workers at 11.30am.  I love what I do. I love sharing. I love making bridges. That picture is of y father with one emperor Haile Selassie’s Lions. He was a pilot for Ethiopian Airlines. He’s wearing the suit.

Ahah.  I’ve been forwarded my poem from The Making a Difference Conference.

Still on Tuesday I travel from Surrey to Warwick University arriving at 5.30pm

It’s a real success.  I love speaking publicly whether it is from my poems or in speeches.

After this gig I hang around with people and stay at the on campus hotel. 

Wednesday 17th I travel from Coventry (Warwick University) to Middlesborough (Teeside University).

I arrive at 1pm and I’m on stage at 1.45pm.  It goes well. Magic happens,  tears and laughter….. and that’s just me. 

Later on in the evening I’m on Radio 4 my half hour doc on Bob Marley as Muse  is repeated. You can hear it again here by clicking on the photograph below.

And that’s it. Ten days .I like to be fast outside and slow inside.  Not the other way round.  I need to watch myself.  The Royal Court event could catch up with me any minute.

The other day I saw myself exit a train as the one I was on had departed. On another day I actually met myself coming back.  I raised my eyebrows “are you okay?” and I looked back and replied “yes I’m okay but I need a holiday”.   Then we both spoke at the same time “Something very big is happening. Something we can’t talk about isn’t it”.