lemn sissay, welcome to hardtalk. hi, stephen.re a writer, a poet, but you're also a public performer. one is very solitary, one, by definition, is clearly public. which is the more authentic, comfortable you 7 you know, i think they're both authentic and both comfortable. you need to... you need to — you need to be alone to write, and to explore, and to find the sort of chemical compound of the poem. and you need to read on stage, so that that chemical compound blows into fireworks and sheds light. you know... and as for poetry, as opposed to other art forms — i mean you've done other things, and in particular, you've written quite a lot of plays. but i think you've said poetry is your truest self, the voice that lives at the back of your mind. is there something special for you about poetry? as a child, poetry was a place where i could find a familial resonance. in other words, when i had no family, as a child, the writing of poetry would act as memory, so that i could identify where i'd been, who i'd been with, what i felt, at