Family Stories with Lemn Sissay

Every family carries stories...stories passed down through generations, stories held quietly, stories shaped by love, migration, absence, memory and survival.

Throughout Bradford Literature Festival 2026, audiences across the city have been invited to share reflections, testimonies and fragments of family life as part of a living public archive created in collaboration with Lemn Sissay’s Tell Me Something project.

In this special event, the acclaimed writer and broadcaster reflects on the stories gathered throughout the festival, exploring family as a place of inheritance, identity, fracture and belonging. Weaving together testimony, conversation and collective witnessing, this event offers a rare space for reflection on the lives, memories and human connections that shape us.

This event is part of Bradford Literature Festival.