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How does a government steal a child and then imprison him?
How does it keep it a secret?
This story is how.
“A lyrical, painful, and yet hope-filled memoir . . . Shattering, light-searching”Observer
“Searing . . . Unputdownable . . . My Name Is Why is authentic and beautiful, a potential game-changer in public attitudes to children raised in care. It’s about bureaucratic cruelty, and what happens when love is absent. Don’t miss it” The Times
“The most amazing thing about this book is that it’s not made up. This actually happened. It is an incredible story” BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH
“An extraordinary story” Sunday Times
“I have never read a memoir like it. A blistering account of a young life in the hands of neglectful authorities. It’s a quest for understanding, for home, for answers. Grips like a thriller. Astounding” MATT HAIG
Lemn Sissay
is a BAFTA-nominated, award-winning writer and broadcaster. He has authored 5 collections of poetry and plays. His Landmark poems are visible in London, Manchester, Huddersfield,, and Addis Ababa. He has been made an Honorary Doctor by the universities of Manchester, Kent, Huddersfield,, and Brunel. Sissay was awarded an MBE for services to literature, and in 2019 he was awarded the PEN Pinter Prize. He is Chancellor of the University of Manchester. He is British and Ethiopian.