Simon Armitage

Simon is the current Poet Laureate and his agent kindly suggested that we might use the following links to a series of videos on YouTube. As his agent explained “During lockdown Simon provided the Magnetic Field Recordings online via Faber because he couldn’t launch his new book of poems Magnetic Field, which is all about Marsden and the area where he grew up in West Yorkshire. The filming for the 6 clips was done over time in Simon’s home/garden and the surrounding countryside.”

Simon wrote his poem Lockdown early on in the Covid pandemic and subsequently, his new band Land Yacht Regatta (LYR) turned the poem into the spoken word piece Lockdown featuring the actress Florence Pugh (from Little Women) on vocals with Simon Armitage. The music video, filmed during lockdown, was released in aid of the charity Refuge.

In putting his poetry to music Simon is following in a tradition which may have been started by John Betjeman in his collaborations with Jim Parker. You can read some of Betjeman’s poems and hear more set to music by clicking HERE.