Lemn Sissay

My real mother is a survivor, very strong and respected by the people who know her, but our relationship is not easy - but then, it was never going to be.

My foster parents were very religious. They told me that they had not decided to take me in, rather that it was God that had decided it for them.

I think we are in an age where cash pays for time and space. The more cash you have, the bigger space you can buy and the smaller the technology to put in it.

As a young child my attention span was, as I remember it, rather short.

I like villains because there's something so attractive about a committed person - they have a plan, an ideology, no matter how twisted. They're motivated.

When I left Barcelona, staying in Spain was an important factor in my decision to join Madrid. I did not have to change country or learn a new language, adopt a different sort of lifestyle, and so on.