Simon Armitage
Writing
Biography
Simon Robert Armitage, CBE, FRSL is an English poet, playwright and novelist who was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is also professor of poetry at the University of Leeds and succeeded Geoffrey Hill as Oxford Professor of Poetry when he was elected to the four year part time appointment from 2015–2019.
Born: May 26, 1963
Place of Birth: Marsden, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Known For
BBC Four Presents: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Poet Simon Armitage goes on the trail of one of the jewels in the crown of British poetry, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written about 600 years ago by an unknown author. The poem has got just about everything - it is an action-packed adventure, a ghost story, a steamy romance, a morality tale and the world's first eco-poem. Armitage follows in the footsteps of the poem's hero, Gawain, through some of Britain's most beautiful and mystical landscapes and reveals why an absurd tale of a knight beheading a green giant is as relevant and compelling today as when it was written.
The Pendle Witch Child
The extraordinary story of the most disturbing witch trial in British history and the key role played in it by one nine-year-old girl. Jennet Device, a beggar-girl from Pendle in Lancashire, was the star witness in the trial in 1612 of her own mother, her brother, her sister and many of her neighbours and, thanks to her chilling testimony, they were all hanged.
The Making of King Arthur
Poet Simon Armitage traces the evolution of the Arthurian legend through the literature of the medieval age and reveals that King Arthur is not the great national hero he is usually considered to be. He's a fickle and transitory character who was appropriated by the Normans to justify their conquest, he was cuckolded when French writers began adapting the story and it took Thomas Malory's masterpiece of English literature, Le Mort d'Arthur, to restore dignity and reclaim him as the national hero we know today.
Winter Walks
Take a gentle walk as familiar faces explore landscapes in Yorkshire and Cumbria in this series of immersive and intimate documentaries.
Richard Osman's House of Games
Each week a group of four famous faces go toe to toe in testing their general knowledge skills in a variety of entertaining games.
Art That Made Us
An alternative history of the British Isles, told through art. Looking at 1,500 years and eight dramatic turning points, acclaimed artists and thinkers encounter key historic art works from across the UK that have shaped the history of the British Isles and inspired their own work.
Great Poets: In Their Own Words
A journey into the BBC archives unearthing glorious performances and candid interviews from some of Britain's greatest poets.
Ted Hughes: Stronger Than Death
Documentary exploring Ted Hughes, one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, focusing on how his life story influenced his work and vision.
Speeches That Shook the World
Speech-making is the art of persuasion. Well-honed rhetoric appeals not just to the mind, but to the heart and, deeper down, in the guts. Examining the speeches that provoked radical change, surprised pundits or shocked listeners, poet Simon Armitage dissects what makes a perfect speech. Simon gets the inside story behind some of the famous speeches of the modern age, talking to Tony Blair's speechwriter, to Earl Spencer on his controversial address at his sister's funeral and the woman who challenged the rioters in Hackney. We hear how Peter Tatchell confronted the BNP, Paul Boateng on how Enoch Powell's divisive speech personally affected him as a child, and Colonel Tim Collins, whose charge was to motivate his troops on the eve of the Iraq war. Simon discusses the nuts and bolts of speech writing with Vincent Franklin, aka the blue-sky thinking guru Stuart Pearson from The Thick of It, and gets tips on powerful delivery from actor Charles Dance.
Building Sights
Personal reflections on the best of 20th Century architecture.
Filmography
as Self - Poet Laureate, Translated Pearl. 2016
as Self
as Self - Panellist
as Self - Presenter
as Himself - Presenter
as Self - Presenter