Lemn Sissay

Lemn Sissay was commissioned by Manchester Literature Festival to write two poems, Belong and Open Up, in response to the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s era-defining I Have a Dream speech for a celebratory programme co-produced with Manchester Camerata. The poems were written to be performed rather than to be read on the page. They were performed at Manchester Town Hall on Saturday 19 October 2013, interspersed between movements of Beethoven’s String Quartet No.13 in B flat, OP. 130, performed by Camerata principal players.