Omar Mentesh
I first went to prison at fifteen. In a cell in Feltham, I found a book on a cupboard shelf and understood about a quarter of it. That quarter was enough. Today I speak, deliver workshops, mentor and run Anabranch Plus, a social enterprise that helps people leaving prison into work and education.
Where are you in the river?
An anabranch is a channel that leaves the main flow and finds its way back. Pick the stone that sounds most like you today.
BBC ARTS Documentary
The Book That Changed My Life
I am one of the people sharing their story in The Book That Changed My Life, a BBC Two documentary with Her Majesty Queen Camilla about the power of reading to change the course of a life. It aired on Wednesday 14 October 2026 and is now available on BBC iPlayer.
Now on BBC iPlayer.
Made by Blink Films for BBC Arts, as part of the National Year of Reading 2026.
I also contributed to Impulse: Playing with Reality, a mixed reality experience about ADHD. Read about both projects.
My story
From Feltham at fifteen to a degree, a family and a social enterprise. The short version, told plainly.
Read my storyReading
The books that changed my life, and the lists I make for people inside prison and out.
See the lists“I can honestly say Omar is one of the most inspirational people I have met and anyone who has the pleasure of meeting, working alongside or being mentored by him will not regret it!”
“Omar is a very rare asset. He is totally authentic, enthusiastic and driven. His life experiences have shaped him but don’t define his future.”
A quarter of a book
I had never read a book before. I left school at thirteen and words had always been something that happened in front of other people. In that cell there was nobody to see me struggle, so I followed the lines with my finger and kept going.
The book was The Eagle Has Landed. Most of it went over my head. The quarter I understood showed me there was a world outside the walls I was in, and it started something that has never stopped.
If you think reading is not for you, start there. You do not have to understand every word of a book for it to change you.
Find a book to start withHow much do you know about reading and prison?
According to the Ministry of Justice, 57 per cent of adult prisoners taking initial assessments in 2019 to 2020 had literacy levels below those expected of an 11-year-old. Take a two-minute quiz and see what else surprises you.
Source: Ministry of Justice, Prison education statistics 2019 to 2020, as quoted in the Ofsted and HM Inspectorate of Prisons review of reading education in prisons, March 2022.
Take the quizHear when my book is out
I am finishing a book about my life, Rewriting the Sentence and an easy-read edition, A Quarter of a Book, for anyone who finds reading hard. Leave your email and I will let you know when they are ready. I will only write when there is something worth sharing.
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What book changed your life?
I would love to know. Tell me the book and a line about why. With your permission, I may share some of them here.