Shrewsbury welcomes Poet Laureate Simon Armitage to School

Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, addressed the Sidney Society this week, reading from his critically-acclaimed work and giving Salopians an insight into the life of a writer under the scrutiny of the public eye.

With self-deprecating and deadpan humour, Simon, who was appointed by the late Queen as a figurehead for poetry in the country, gave an account of his creative inspirations – song lyrics, landscape, family, among much else besides – and read from both recent and earlier work. One of his collections – Book of Matches – is studied at A level, so his insights into the work were hungrily noted by pupils.

A former probation officer, the Pennines-based poet spoke feelingly about the “interiority” and biographical inspiration from which his writing proceeds, in the words of our own Sidney, another defender of the art of poetry, “freely ranging within the zodiac of his own wit.” He was incredibly generous in his responses, too, to the many questions from pupils that his reading provoked – including on the tensions inherent in what may be seen as writing ‘to royal order’.

Kristina Leslie, Head of the English faculty, said we were honoured to welcome the Poet Laureate to Shrewsbury. “It was an amazing occasion and hugely useful for our pupils to hear Simon. His insights gave a whole new dimension to the poetry not only that we study but to the craft of poetry itself, which I’m sure will provide much inspiration to our creative writers as well as English Literature students.”