Simon Armitage
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Articles by Simon Armitage
Simon Armitage, il mondo fragile sotto la teca dei versi
La carriera letteraria di Simon Armitage, cresciuto in un paesino dello Yorkshire, è emigrata dalla periferia verso il centro dell’Impero: oggi è un poeta laureato del Regno Unito. Le sue prime due raccolte annunciavano fin dai titoli – Zoom (1989) e Kid (1992) – una poetica diversa da quelle allora dominanti, presentando testi di impatto immediato, scritti nella lingua delle classi popolari del nord e impregnati della loro cultura.
Simon Armitage on Translating Gilgamesh
Towards the beginning of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the narrator commands the audience to find a stone tablet hidden in a locked box and read about the heroic exploits of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. This metaliterary device frames the ancient text as a message from the deep recesses of time. With Simon Armitage’s Gilgamesh: A New Verse Translation (W.W. Norton 2026) in hand, our access to this Mesopotamian manuscript has been renewed.
The Natufian Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic in the desert of northern Arabia - Scientific Reports
Abstract The Fertile Crescent region, spanning from the upper Euphrates to the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, witnessed the earliest transition in the world from hunting and gathering wild foods to farming domesticates. Natufian Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) communities in this region created distinctive stone tools across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.
“[Speckled Yellow],” a Poem By Simon Armitage
From the Collection New Cemetery Dear universe, I shaved this morning – look at these fine black pinpricks constellated in the white sink. The new moon of this nail clipping proves I’m alive, and once every couple of months I regrow a fringe. Universe, it’s against you I measure myself: the laws of thermodynamics are calling my warm atoms into deep space, but for now I’m holding this hair, these bristles, this middle finger up to your smug face. __________________________________ From New Cemetery.
Los poemas del Mar Muerto / Lepus / Blanca Navidad
Ayuda Buscar en la ayuda Buscar en la ayuda
A review of Katy: The Woman Who Signed the Declaration of Independence by Betty Bolté
Reviewed by Ruth Latta Katy: The Woman Who Signed the Declaration of Independence by Betty Bolté Mystic Owl Publishing January 2026, 288 pages, ISBN-13: 979-8986045078 Betty Bolté’s new novel, set around the time of the American Revolution, is about a real life historical person, Mary Katharine Goddard, who learned a trade, managed a business and supported the movement toward the Thirteen Colonies’ independence from Britain.
A review of New Cemetery By Simon Armitage
Reviewed by Magdalena Ball New Cemetery By Simon Armitage Knopf January 2026, 112 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0593804018 Simon Armitage is one of the most acclaimed poets alive today. He has been the UK’s poet Laureate since 2019 when he took over from Carol Ann Duffy. His body of work is extensive and varied with over twenty poetry collections along with nonfiction, novels, translations, theatre, television, collaborations and the list goes on.
Assessing the intensity of Late Quaternary humid phases in the Nefud Desert, northern Arabia
Introduction The Quaternary climate history of low-latitude dryland regions is characterised by humid phases, which correspond with insolation maxima, separated by prolonged arid intervals (McClure, 1976; Gaven et al., 1981; Szabo et al., 1995; Larrasoaña et al., 2003; Rosenberg et al., 2011; Grant et al., 2017; Nicholson et al., 2020).
Pink Floyd Release ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9, New Stereo Mix)’
Pink Floyd Release ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9, New Stereo Mix)’ Presented for the First Time as a Single Continuous Piece Listen Here Original Paintings By Noel Fielding, Inspired By Syd Barrett Unveiled In New Video Here Wish You Were Here 50 Out December 12th On Deluxe Box Set, CD, Digital, Vinyl & For The First Time In Dolby Atmos Pre-Order Here via Sony Music November 18, 2025 - Pink Floyd unveil ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond (pts. 1-9, New Stereo Mix)’.
Monumental rock art illustrates that humans thrived in the Arabian Desert during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition - Nature Communications
Abstract Dated archaeological sites are absent in northern Arabia between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and 10,000 years ago (ka), signifying potential population abandonment prior to the onset of the Holocene humid period. Here we present evidence that playas became established in the Nefud desert of northern Arabia between ~16 and ~13 ka, the earliest reported presence of surface water following the hyper-aridity of the LGM.
Simon Armitage hails the return of Oasis
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Simon Armitage hails the return of Oasis
Microsoft Cares About Your Privacy Microsoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
‘Their songs are rousing, trippy, witty, moronic. I’ve sung along to them all’: Simon Armitage hails the return of Oasis
In retrospect it all seems so obvious. Form a band, plunder the Beatles’ back catalogue for riffs, guitar tabs, chord changes and song structures, then bang it out in a key that a stadium crowd could put their lungs into but which suited the subway busker, too. The resulting success now looks so inevitable. In 1994, dance music flooded the UK charts but not everyone thought a rave DJ wearing oversized headphones and playing records counted as a gig.
Poem Of The Week: Brass By Ralph Dartford
arts Brass For us, there were journeys of fine weather between the walled towns. But now, it rains inside our trains. Once, our days and nights tapped out hot rhythms as we danced mambas drenched in salted sweat – dipped our dreams with blistered fingers – raised life’s hopes to the turncoat wind. In teatime kitchens, our chips drowned in gravy and nothing of comfort’s good came calling. These streets have been forsaken by forensics – the small price of power’s broken bicycle.
Film Review: The Salt Path
arts I haven’t read the best-selling book on which director Marianne Elliott’s eponymous new film is based, though I have it on solid, if anecdotal, authority that the representation is a fair one. And in any case, the presence of Raynor Winn in the credits – the author of The Salt Path co-produced the filmic venture – would suggest a level of collaboration and approval that goes beyond the norm.
Poem Of The Week: Dark Peak, February By Alison Binney
arts Dark Peak, February stone walls lean green-furred faces into horizontal hail snowdrops nod huddled heads at mute daffodil spears starlings witter and wheel tumbling to earth like leaves water gnaws the track’s edge where the chaffinch hops under lightning-black twigs catkins dance like drying socks Whilst tangential to the prevailing tenor of her fine new collection, Alison Binney’s delicate pinioning of a moment in a winter’s landscape retains the stylistic poise that is an identifiable...
Poem Of The Week: The Committee Weighs In By Andrea Cohen
arts The Committee Weighs In I tell my mother I’ve won the Nobel Prize. Again? she says. Which discipline this time? It’s a little game we play: I pretend I’m somebody, she pretends she isn’t dead. We are no doubt guilty, in this weekly feature, of erring on the side of earnestness, as if poetry might best be defined by its capacity to educate, redress, move, depress or just plain baffle.
Poem Of The Week: Nurse at a Bus Stop By Simon Armitage
arts Nurse at a Bus Stop The slow traffic takes a good long look. Jilted bride of public transport, alone in the shelter, the fireproof bin and shatter-proof glass scrawled with the cave-art of cocks and hearts. It’s late, Friday, the graveyard shift, you’re ready to dab blood from a split lip, to hold the hand of cancer till the line goes flat. Cardigan, sensible shoes, the kids with a neighbour, fobwatch pinned like a medal to your breast. Winter sharpens the day.
Yorkshire’s Simon Armitage Pens New Poem To Change Perceptions Of Probation Service
arts Award-winning Poet Laureate and former probation officer, Simon Armitage, has crafted an ode to those working in the Probation Service, acknowledging their work and efforts in a bid to encourage others to follow in their footsteps.
The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide by Alicia Valenski
LoveReading Says A fun difference to this guide compared with other travel guides I’ve read is the way that the guide recommends each of its 50+ locations through a resident queer person, interviews which combine personal anecdotes with practical tips and broad-ranging recommendations.
Walk Britain by Elise Downing
Walk Britain Synopsis Walk Britain by Elise Downing is an inspirational collection of 90 walking routes accessible by public transport which can enable you to see the best of Great Britain in an environmentally friendly way. The book is organised into easily accessible base locations throughout England, Scotland and Wales – simply choose where you want to stay or day-trip to and then pick your adventure.
Lifelines by Julian Hoffman
Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. "An utterly enchanting, nature-infused account of finding a new life, close to the confluence of three countries. " View All Editions (1) £18.99 £17.09 In Stock. Same day dispatch on orders before 3pm.
Books for Spring
SHOPS Spring is finally here and along with it arrives a wealth of fresh reading for adults and children alike. Now is the perfect time to get out and about and enjoy the new season with friends and family, and we have put together an exciting selection of inspiring reads. Whether you are looking for fun outdoor activities, walking guides, gardening books, glorious nature writing, maps and travel guides or a new favourite novel, we have something for everyone.
Simon Armitage announces H-K Libraries Tour
By Faber Editor, 18 January 2024 Each spring this decade, Simon Armitage will give readings in libraries across the UK, from the flagship libraries of big cities to the smaller ones that serve rural and remote communities. Using the alphabet as a compass, his journey will celebrate the library as one of the great and necessary institutions.
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage pens climate inspired lyrics for this year’s BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition
The BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition returns once again, inviting amateur composers, budding songsmiths and music lovers to write a tune or melody to new lyrics by Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage. Inspired by a transformative visit to the Arctic, which has since shaped how Simon Armitage considers the natural world around him, Polaris considers how important it is to cherish and protect our natural world.
Efficient, multi-hundred-gram scale access to E3 ubiquitin ligase ligands for degrader development
Efficient, multi-hundred-gram scale access to E3 ubiquitin ligase ligands for degrader development† Small molecule heterobifunctional degraders (commonly also known as PROTACs) offer tremendous potential to deliver new therapeutics in areas of unmet medical need.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth…
Compiling this landmark anthology of poetry in English about dogs and musical instruments is like swimming through bricks. To date, I have only, “On the Death of Mrs. McTuesday’s Pug, Killed by a Falling Piano,” a somewhat obvious choice. True, an Aeolian harp whispers alluringly in the background of the anonymous sonnet, “The Huntsman’s Hound,” but beyond that — silence. I should resist this degrading donkey-work in favor of my own writing, wherein contentment surely lies. But A.
An Unexpected Guest
featuring Samuel Pepys She’s treated herself to new shoes, a window seat on the fast train, a hotel for a night. She’s been to the capital twice before, once to see Tutankhamun when she was nine and once when it rained. Crossing The Mall she’s just a person like everyone else but her hand keeps checking the invitation, her thumb strumming the gilded edge of the card, her finger tracing the thread of embossed leaves.
Eclipse in Charlotte at Charles Mack Citizen Center 2023
Six friends are interviewed by the police after the disappearance of Lucy Lime, a strange unnerving girl — ‘I am a walking Universe, I am’ — whom they met beneath the cliffs on a Cornish beach, just before the total eclipse of the sun.
“The Frantic Adding Machine”
Content This content can also be viewed on the site it from. Audio: Read by the author. The frantic adding machine of a wasps’ nest in the eaves, its fizzing pregnancy, thrilling to lay an ear to the plasterboard wall, let its raving fusion blur with the mind. The waspman cometh in T-shirt and shorts, pumps white dust under a roof tile through an extendable wand.
The Poetry Station | CV
The Poetry Station - Poems to view on video
‘Floral Tribute’ by Simon Armitage
Simon Armitage was born in West Yorkshire and is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. A recipient of numerous prizes and awards, his collections of poetry include Seeing Stars (2010), The Unaccompanied (2017), Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic (2019), Magnetic Field (2020) and his acclaimed translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2007).
“I Am Simon Armitage”
I am Simon Armitage. I am Aiming Maestro, Airiest Gammon. I am Armani Egotism, Ammonia Tigers, Grim Anatomies. I am German Otis, I am Inmost Rage, I am Moist Anger. Granite Mimosa I am, Reaming Maoist, Marmite Saigon, Mismanage Riot, Origami Stamen, Omega Martinis, I am More Giants, I am Groin Meats, I am Me Roasting. I am Soaring Tammie, Steaming Moira, Emigration Sam. I am a Snog Timer. I am Sir Megaton. Against Memoir I am.
PN Review Print and Online Poetry Magazine
This poem is taken from PN Review 141, Volume 28 Number 1, September - October 2001. Two Poems Birthday Bed. Sheets without sleep, and the first birds. Dawn, at the pace of a yacht. The first bus, empty, carries its cargo of light from the depot, like a block of ice. Dawn, when the mind looks out of its nest, dawn with gold in its teeth. In the street, a milk-float moves by throw of a dice, the mast to the east raises itself to its full height. Elsewhere, someone's husband touches someone's wife.
Poem Of The Week: The Wireless By Jean Stevens
Yorkshire Times A Voice of the Free Press frontpagebusinessartscarslifestylefamilytravelsportsscitechnaturefictionwhatson No cookies. No tracking. No advertising. Steve Whitaker Literary Editor @stevewh16944270 arts The wireless Kathleen Ferrier on the wireless. It’s my father’s way of getting close. I hold my breath to listen.
Burned By Light: Dovetailing - Gathered Notes
arts Never underestimate the simple pleasure of contemplative quiet. Several visitors to Dovetailing - a collaboration of artwork, installation, music and word, which was exhibited at the Quaker Meeting House of Farfield near Addingham in the Summer of 2021- were moved to feelings of ‘calm and wellbeing’. Their thoughts, some of which are now collected in an impressive anthology of responses to the exhibition, indirectly corroborate the themes explored.
Night Swimming:Towards A General Theory Of Love by Clare Shaw
arts A paradox lies at the heart of Clare Shaw’s shattering new collection: striving, almost childlike, to order love in an anxiety of intractable images, her disclosure of unease is counter-intuitively strident. For performance is one of Shaw’s strongest suits and the banging of a resounding drum is a sincere means of attempting to negotiate a passage towards self-understanding.
Poem of the Week: 'Together' By Robert Gibson
Yorkshire Times Weekend Edition frontpagebusinessartscarslifestylefamilytravelsportsscitechnaturefictionwhatson No cookies. No tracking. No advertising.
Review: Voices of Craven's Summer Jubilee Concert in Skipton
arts The moment at which all other considerations melted away, towards the end of Saturday night’s shimmering concert at Skipton Town Hall, was pivotal: collectively bearing the symbolic weight of a blue and yellow national flag, the ladies of the Voices of Craven joined with their male colleagues to deliver an emotionally-charged rendering of a Prayer for Ukraine.
Jubilee Poem Of The Week: 'The Patriarchs - An Elegy' By Simon Armitage
arts The Patriarchs – An Elegy The weather in the window this morning is snow, unseasonal singular flakes, a slow winter’s final shiver. On such an occasion to presume to eulogise one man is to pipe up for a whole generation – that crew whose survival was always the stuff of minor miracle, who came ashore in orange-crate coracles, fought ingenious wars, finagled triumphs at sea with flaming decoy boats, and side-stepped torpedoes.
Maundy Thursday - The Poetry Society: Poems
Right royally we’d screwed up, splashed out on non-essential starches and yeasts, spreed through a month’s wage one Wednesday night till emptied pockets hung loose and sad like donkeys’ ears. So we stooped low at the fountain of dreams, stole pounds and pence from tiled shallows, coins bleached to a minted gleam, money tossed by the moneyless fishing for money, ground-bait scattered for love, hope, reprieve from cancer and so forth.
“And then the justice, In fair round belly, with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut.”
Shakespeare’s fifth age We left the journey through the Seven Ages of Man in July, anticipating the guns of August which heralded the start of the First World War. Dutifully the guns fired but in another theatre of war, Afghanistan. Now we pick up our knapsack, filled with poetry anthologies, planning to end our journey at the turn of the year. We paused at the watershed between youth and middle age.
Multiple hominin dispersals into Southwest Asia over the past 400,000 years - Nature
Abstract Pleistocene hominin dispersals out of, and back into, Africa necessarily involved traversing the diverse and often challenging environments of Southwest Asia1,2,3,4. Archaeological and palaeontological records from the Levantine woodland zone document major biological and cultural shifts, such as alternating occupations by Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
The expansion of Acheulean hominins into the Nefud Desert of Arabia
Abstract The Arabian Peninsula is a critical geographic landmass situated between Africa and the rest of Eurasia. Climatic shifts across the Pleistocene periodically produced wetter conditions in Arabia, dramatically altering the spatial distribution of hominins both within and between continents. This is particularly true of Acheulean hominins, who appear to have been more tethered to water sources than Middle Palaeolithic hominins.
Before burials, what did humans do with our dead?
How did human uniqueness first evolve among our ancestors, setting us apart from other animals? That is a question many archaeologists are grappling with by investigating early records of art, language, food preparation, ornaments, and symbols. How our ancestors treated and mourned the dead can also offer crucial clues, helping to reveal when we first developed the abstract thinking needed to fully grasp the concept of death.
How we discovered the oldest human burial in Africa - and what it tells us about our ancestors
How did human uniqueness first evolve among our ancestors, setting us apart from other animals? That is a question many archaeologists are grappling with by investigating early records of art, language, food preparation, ornaments and symbols. How our ancestors treated and mourned the dead can also offer crucial clues, helping to reveal when we first developed the abstract thinking needed to fully grasp the concept of death.
How Africa’s oldest human burial was found and what it says about our ancestors
The 78,000-year-old burial of a child suggests African people treated their dead differently to Eurasians By Simon Armitage - 07 May 2021 How did human uniqueness first evolve among our ancestors, setting us apart from other animals? That is a question many archaeologists are grappling with by investigating early records of art, language, food preparation, ornaments and symbols.
Simon Armitage, Author at The Wire Science
What the Oldest Human Burial in Africa Tells Us About Our Ancestors
How Africa’s oldest human burial was found and what it says about our ancestors
The 78,000-year-old burial of a child suggests African people treated their dead differently to Eurasians 06 May 2021 - 20:50 By Simon Armitage How did human uniqueness first evolve among our ancestors, setting us apart from other animals? That is a question many archaeologists are grappling with by investigating early records of art, language, food preparation, ornaments and symbols.
Africa: How We Discovered the Oldest Human Burial in Africa - and What It Tells Us About Our Ancestors
How did human uniqueness first evolve among our ancestors, setting us apart from other animals? That is a question many archaeologists are grappling with by investigating early records of art, language, food preparation, ornaments and symbols. How our ancestors treated and mourned the dead can also offer crucial clues, helping to reveal when we first developed the abstract thinking needed to fully grasp the concept of death.
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