In the Guardian audio book review of Lemn Sissay’s recent collection of poems, Fiona Sturges makes the following observation, “Every day for ten years, Lemn Sissay rose to write a poem to the break of day, a witty and profound collection recited here with his customary verve.” A few months ago Ethiopian-British poet Leman Sissay had claimed the headlines with his dramatic rendering of Franz Kafka’s classic and absurdist tale entitled “The Metamorphosis”.
A new poem every morning at dawn for ten years! That sounds weird indeed. Who else but writers have this weird habits they developed while doing their jobs. Every writer is seeking to develop the best time or condition for writing their works at their best. Lmen Sissay’s morning habit of jotting down verses might look strange on the surface but deep down that was the best time of the day for the poet to do his work to the best of his ability.
Many iconic authors are known to have developed strange ways in doing their jobs every day. “For some writers lying down seems to set their creativity and focus in writing. They find inspiration and the right word to write while they are in the comfort of their bed. Among the successful novelists who have practiced this habit are Mark Twain, George Orwell, Edith Warton, Woody Allen, and Marcel Proust. They are all known for churning out pages while lying in bed or lounged on the sofa and Truman Capote even claimed to be a “completely horizontal author” because he could not think or write unless he was lying down.”
It is not clear how Lemn sissay-whether he is standing sitting or lying down in bed while jotting down the fresh morning verses. He is probably sitting down at a corner of his bedroom or in the living room or the kitchen sipping his morning coffee and checking his Inbox while inventing the verses out of nowhere.
This columnist too took that opportunity to introduce Lemn Sissay to the Ethiopian audience in the following terms, “Ethiopian-British writer Lemn Sisay’s life is perhaps as strange as intriguing as that of Gregor Samsa, the main character in Franz Kafka’s tragic and classic short novel called “Metamorphosis”. Unlike Gregor Samsa, Lemn’s was born in Lancashire in 1967 and was adopted by British foster parents where he grew up after coming to UK with his mother while she was still pregnant of him. His mother came to Britain after his father; Giddey Estifanos who was a pilot for Ethiopian Airlines was killed in a plane crash in 1972. After giving birth to Lemn, his mother continued her studies while he was raised by foster parents.
His official biography in Wikipedia portrays him as, “a British author and broadcaster who was the official poet of 2012 London Olympics, chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022 and joined the Funding Museums board of trustees two years later having previously been appointed one of the museum’s fellows. He was awarded the 2019 Pen Pinter Prize. He has written a number of books and plays.”
Now Sissay has once again hit the headlines with a strange habit he developed over the last ten years when he just rose from his sleep and sat down to write one poem for the day. And this was repeated over and over for the last ten years. A simple arithmetic of his creative output would suggest that Sissay has so far written more than 3600 poems.
Although all of them might not be classics, his output is but staggering, discipline and commitment quite astonishing and his creativity budding with unstoppable creativity. However, his modus operandi remains obscure. Does he finish polishing his poems the day they were created or is he simply writing poems that are polished in his imagination and then thrown onto the paper?
My guess is that he must have certainly selected some of them for his collection in the audio book recently released. This is not however the first time that Lemn is releasing a collection of poems. He is rather a poet be calling and the author of other works like “My Name is Why” and other works.
The reviewer Fiona tells us that, “Let the Light Pour in” is an “experiment in hope”. For 10 years ,the “My Name is Why” author been rising at dawn each day, writing a poem and posting it on social media. Those poems have since been turned into songs and tattoos, and emblazoned as mural on city walls.”
Commenting on his newly found habit of rising at dawn to write poems, Sissay says that poetry is “a daily practice. My meditation. It can take minutes or hours. A friend advised me to, ‘rise with enthusiasm to the dawning of each day’ I like that cause when I write I feel like I am opening the windows to let the light pour in.”
Fiona Sturges has presented in her review a sample of Sissay’s poems that are short, vivid, imaginative and stylistically diverse. She says that, “The poems, narrated with verve and charm by the author, feature conversations between night and light.-
How do you do it?” said night
How do you wake up and shine?
I keep it simple said light
One day at a time
And between head and heart.
While there is a tendency towards mawkishness in some, others are witty or profound., telling of love, resilience and the power of nature and the elements:
The moon tells the sky
The sky tells the sea
The sea tells the tide
And the tide tells me.
Fiona quotes another poem: In this season of short days and long dark nights/Let the Light Pour in’s bite-size verse seeks to remind us that darkness is fleeting and that, whatever may be bringing us down light is around the corner. As Sissay’s ten year old habit of rising every day at dawn with the sun and sitting down to write poetry is something that needs not only appreciation but also great discipline.
Many authors of African origins have thrived in Great Britain, some of whom reaching the highest rang in the ladder of achievements and fame. If there is any “benefit” African writers have reaped from the colonial or post-colonial era, is probably the chance to get quality education in the land of Shakespeare, where their talent could find free expression and gratification.
Lemn Sissay may be a British writer, as the media in Britain refer to him and yet his African and Ethiopian roots or identities cannot be denied or ignored. This is reflected in Lemn’s works, both his dramatic and poetic ones. Alienation, loneliness, hope, waiting, and the mystery of existence are ever present in Lemn’s works. This may be a reflection of the sense of real alienation he and his fellow Africans may be experiencing in their land of adoption where racism, class and ethnic division are real day to day challenges to millions of immigrants.
The British media are fond of elevating their idols, be them soccer players, sportsmen in general, writers or politicians, to the ranks of real life gods. They do this simply because being British in itself is traditionally regarded as joining the ranks of exceptionally talented people or the people who have been ruling over half of the world. This is a modern myth that was rampant particularly in post-colonial Britain. The “crisis of empire” has left a psychological scar in the British psyche to the extent that adoring and mystifying everything British has contributed to make up for the loss of empire.
Lemn sisay’s literary rise is not yet over. He is going to surprise us now and then before he may one day turn into an officially knighted literary icon. The sad story is that he is not even widely known in African and Ethiopian cultural circles and this ignorance has diminished the poet’s status as a rising international star. On the other hand the fact that Lemn Sissay is still exclusively sticking to European and British themes in his works may turn him into a willing symbol of African literary success in Europe.
Lemn Sissay should therefore go back to his African and Ethiopian roots and explore the same themes of alienation and sadness in the context of the colonial and post-colonial realities. This maybe the sole alternative for the writer’s self-alienation that would only be overcome the moment he starts writing about the land of his ancestors and the struggles of his people. Ten years from now, Lemn may make the critical transition from being British is his soul to one of being African in his spirits. And that would be his final salvation from being referred by posterity as the British writer who wrote sadly about us into one who “overcame his alienation to embrace his roots and his ancestors.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 27 JANUARY 2024
