Poet Laureate Simon Armitage was born and grew up in West Yorkshire. His numerous prizes and awards include the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and an Ivor Novello Award for song writing. He has published over a dozen poetry collections including New Cemetery and his recent bestsellers Blossomise and Dwell. His major poetry translation of the ancient epic Gilgamesh is out next. Armitage’s poetry has been on GSCE and A level curricula for over two decades now. An award-winning dramatist, his play The Last Days of Troy was performed at Shakespeare’s Globe. Armitage also writes extensively for television and radio, and is the author of two novels and three non-fiction bestsellers. He is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. A Vertical Art brings together the vibrant and engaging lectures from his tenure as Oxford Professor of Poetry (2015-2019).
Image credit: Paul Stuart Photography
