In the course of what cannot easily be compared to any other poetry reading or performance, Lemn Sissay seamlessly melded anecdote, tangental monologue, and comic one-liner with poems from across his back catalogue, including those from his latest collection Gold From The Stone.

From the epic ‘Mourning Breaks’, a tale of psychological struggle and resilience, to ‘Immigration R.S.V.P’ a short and pithy poem highlighting hypocricies of far right anti-immigration politics, the magic and the power is in the delivery.

Lemn Sissay’s very speech is infused with poetry, and in full flow he has a passion, animation and intensity that stops you in your tracks. Equally moving, is his personal story, well-known but none the less startling - the story of a child and young person failed continually by the care system.

The notion of belonging, connectedness and the function/dysfunction of families are themes that he repeatedly returns to in what seems wrong to describe as a performance as such, but more an apparently spontaneously woven narrative that encompasses poetry from across three decades.

Lemn Sissay’s work is about much more than words on a page, and once seen live he is not quickly forgotten. He certainly gives of himself to the audience in a way that few others do.

There were strong performances too from both support acts: Seb Causton, whose poems were variously humorous and devastating, and Sea Sharp, who through sound and rhythm artfully blurred the boundary between poetry and song.