On Friday 13 November, Lemn Sissay delivered an inspiring virtual performance for audiences as part of Nottingham Poetry Festival.
Friday 13; unlucky for some. Not, however, unlucky for Nottingham Poetry Festival ticket-holders around the globe.
The festival’s fifth annual event has been fully virtual, kicking off with a phenomenal performance from the nation’s favourite Lemn Sissay MBE on this date.
Following the recent release of his autobiography ‘My Name is Why’, Lemn performed not only some of his moving yet sharp-witted poetry – including the ever-popular ‘Invisible Kisses’ – but discussed the book and its themes at length.
In what is undoubtedly a first for many performers, the virtual aspect of the performance actually worked in his favour. Lemn was completely at ease, and visisbly pleased to invite the audience into his home (with technical support and comparing coming live from Metronome).
Audience members engaged via a chat function, where they could ‘clap’ and ‘click’, ask questions and express their takes on his work.
How did it stack up to a ‘real’ event? “Well”, Lemn explained, “this event is just as real as it would have been in person” (in the auditorium at Metronome). Beautifully put – but we’d expect nothing less.
We’re so pleased we could help to keep this festival going, and if you’d like to learn more about how the ten day event went, you can head over to their website.
Lemn Sissay will be returning to Metronome next year on Friday 2 July, and tickets are on sale now.
