POET, broadcaster and playwright, Lemn Sissay MBE, will today be officially installed as Chancellor of The University of Manchester four months after beating former cabinet minister Lord Mandelson and Hallé Music Director, Sir Mark Elder (by 1862 and 1648 votes respectively), to the post.
This puts Sissay in the strange position of having the honour presented to him by, well, himself...
Sissay will replace Tom Bloxham MBE, founder of Manchester-based property firm Urban Splash, after a seven year tenure as the ceremonial head of the University.
Sissay is also due to collect an honorary PhD from the university today, which as the new Chancellor, puts Sissay in the strange position of having the honour presented to him by, well, himself.
Baroness Joan Bakewell, Professor Dame Athene Donald, Sir Nicholas Hytner and Dame Janet Smith will also collect honorary PhDs.
Sissay, an associate artist at the Southbank Centre, patron of the Letterbox Club, fellow of the Foundling Museum, said:
“I could not be in a more inspiring place on Earth than The University of Manchester. I want to embody the spirit of the University as its Chancellor I’m looking forward to meeting people from all parts of the world and trumpeting our ideals.”
In 2010, Sissay received an MBE from the Queen for services to literature, having produced a wealth of poetry, including 'Rebel Without Applause' (1992) and 'Listener' (2008), alongside articles, essays, records, radio documentaries, public art and plays.
Born in 1967 to an Ethiopian mother in Billinge, St Helens, Sissay was passed to social services to be brought up in foster homes and child institutions, the memory of which, including abuse at a former children's home in Wigan, impacted heavily upon his work.
You can see some prime Sissay on the exterior wall of the Hardy's Well pub on Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, which has caused so many fender benders since the late-90s the council had to change the junction's traffic system.
Try this one after a few shandies:
"Worry will wait while wells wand whirls a warm-hearted wackiness into a weary week."
Hardy's Well pub on Wilmslow RoadThe University’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, said:
“My warm and sincere congratulations go to Lemn on his installation as our next Chancellor, as well as to all five of our honorary graduates who are joining us today to receive their awards and help celebrate our Foundation Day.”
Sissay's installation will also form part of the university's Foundation Day celebrations, marking the anniversary of the amalgamation of the Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in 2004 - thus forming the largest single-site university in the UK.
