Biographical note
Tommy Sissons is a playwright, poet, novelist and educator based in London. He is the Editor-in-chief of GRASS Magazine, a publication specialising in the promotion of working-class creatives. Sissons’ novel Cautious, A Boat Adrift (2023) and polemic A Small Man's England (2021) were both published by Repeater Books. He is currently developing a new play after being shortlisted for the 2024 Adopt A Playwright Award. He is also a recipient of the Peggy Ramsay Grant for his theatrical writing. His plays have been performed at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre (Silent Houses, 2024), the Jack Studio Theatre (Desmond’s Scared of the Smoking Sea, 2023), the Chichester Festival Theatre (Rooms of Soil, 2013), and the Unicorn Theatre (Just Like Us, 2012).
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Sissons has delivered talks on his work at a number of academic and cultural institutions, including the V&A Museum, University of Chicago Illinois and Sheffield Hallam University. He was the head judge of the Causley Trust's 2025 International Poetry Competition and Young Person's Poetry Competition, and his poetry collection is forthcoming with Broken Sleep Books. Sissons has been shortlisted for the Out-Spoken Award for Poetry and his verse has been published in numerous literary journals including The Poetry Review, and the Verve Press 2025 Anthology. He has been commissioned to write and perform spoken word poems for clients such as the BBC, Channel 4, VICE and Red Bull.
Endorsements
Sissons’ voice (on both, stage & page) cuts through the social fabric of modern British society. He writes with honesty, curiosity & thoughtful urgency. I’m grateful for talent like his. The stories of our post-Brexit era is incomplete without them.
Raymond Antrobus author of Signs, Music and The Perseverance
Part-essay, part-prose, A Small Man’s England is a unique and passionate, must-read polemic on the state we're in, how we got here and where and who we could be, that is both captivating and essential reading.” –
David Peace author of GB84 and The Damned United
Tommy's writing is clear, his thinking is original, his passion is deeply felt. He's always moved me as poet, and now as a writer of prose I find him carefully considered; strong in his morals and aware of the complexities within the subjects he discusses.”
Kae Tempest author of Let Them Eat Chaos and Brand New Ancients
