Copyright 2020 Simon Armitage.

Events, Recent & Forthcoming

Events & broadcasts

BBC Radio 4, Larkin Revisited. Across ten programmes and ten Philip Larkin poems, Simon Armitage finds out what happens when he revisits and unpicks Larkin’s work in Larkin’s centenary year (2022).

BBC Radio 4, The Poet Laureate has Gone to his Shed in which the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage talks to guests about life, language and music in his shed. 

BBC Radio 4, The Ballad of Eldon Street – an unnatural history. A new form of radio ballad to mark the centenary of Radio Drama on the BBC. The story of this iconic Barnsley street told by the people who know it best, interwoven with specially composed songs written by LYR – Simon Armitage, Patrick J Pearson and Richard Walters.

2023

Simon Armitage’s poetry readings or his performances with LYR are listed here when the host has announced and ticket sales are live or have a pending date. 

Wed, Sept 20 – Simon Armitage at Jersey Festival of Words, The Freedom Centre, Jersey JE2 4SU. Tickets on sale.

Fri, Sept 22, BBC Contains Strong Language 2023

3.30pm The Laurel Prize for Nature and Ecopoetry Prizegiving, For this year’s Laurel Prize ceremony, expect words of power, beauty, sadness, hope and activism, with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, and judges Pascale Petit, Nick Laird and broadcaster Reeta Chakrabarti. Howard Assembly Room, Leeds.

6.00pmThe World in Words: An International Gathering of Poets, Simon Armitage comes together with poets from around the world celebrating Leeds as an international city through the lens of the 175+ languages spoken in the city, including Felene M. Cayetano, Chris Tse, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Andre Bagoo, Ramya Jirasinghe and Lebo Mashile. Howard Assembly Room, Leeds. FREE admission but a ticket is essential.

Sat, Sept 23, BBC Contains Strong Language 2023

10.30-12.30amYoung Laureates Prize, A morning of performances from shortlisted young poets and the first-ever Young Poet Laureates for West Yorkshire, with the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage. Leeds Central Library (Room 700), Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 3AB. FREE but a ticket is essential 

LYR tour

Sat, Sept 23, 8.00pmLYR on tour in Leeds, Howard Assembly Room. Tickets on sale. Sold out

Sun, Sept 24, 7.30pmLYR on tour in Manchester, The Deaf Institute, M1 7HE. Tickets on sale. Sold out

Tues, Sept 26, 7.00pmLYR on tour in Edinburgh, The Mash House, EH 1 1JQ.   Tickets on sale.  
 
Wed, Sept 27, 7.00pm LYR on tour in Sunderland, Pop Recs Ltd. Tickets on sale.  
 
Fri, Sept 29, 8.00pm – LYR on tour in Margate, Where Else? CT9 1RL. Tickets on sale.  
 
Sat, Sept 30th, 7.30pm  – LYR on tour in Stowmarket, John Peel CentreTickets on sale.  
 
Sun, Oct 1, 8.00pmLYR on tour in Bristol, Redgrave Theatre, BS8 3LE. Tickets on sale.  
 
Mon, Oct 2, 7.30pm –  LYR on tour in Exeter, Exeter Phoenix, EX4 3LS.Tickets on sale.  
 
Wed, Oct 4,  7.30pm – LYR on tour in London, Hoxton Hall. Tickets on sale.  
 
Thurs, Oct 5,  7.45pm – LYR on tour in Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre. Tickets on sale.  
 
Fri, Oct 6, 8.00pm, LYR at Bewdley Festival, St George’s Hall, Load St, Bewdley DY12 2EQ  Tickets on sale.  
 
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Sat, Oct 7, 7.30pm – Simon Armitage at Ilkley Literature Festival 50, Kings Hall, Ilkey, LS29 8HB. Tickets on sale. Last few tickets.
 
Sun, Oct 8, 6.00pm – Simon Armitage at Mannington Book Bash, Mannington Hall, Norfolk NR11 7BB. Tickets on sale.  
 
Sun, Oct 15, 4.00pmSimon Armitage at Manchester Literature Festival, Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD. Tickets on sale. Sold out
 
Thurs, Oct 19, 6.00pmAn Evening with Simon Armitage, Ightham Mote, Kent, TN15 0NT. Tickets on sale. Sold out. To join the waiting list, please email ighthammote@nationaltrust.org.uk
 
Sat, Oct 21, 7.30pmAn Evening with Simon Armitage / Pat Almond Memorial ‘Lecture’ 2023, Ayton Village Hall, Wilson Road, East Ayton, YO13 9HY. Tickets available from Sept 12 from Derwent Valley BRIDGE Library, 3 Pickering Road, West Ayton, YO13 9JE. Tel: 01723 863052  Tickets £15. Cash only please.
 
Mon, Oct 23, 7.00pm, Simon Armitage in conversation at The Bindery. In July 2023 Simon Armitage travelled for the first time to the Arctic Circle to make a series of documentary programmes for BBC Radio 4. The three poems he wrote on the island of Spitsbergen capture the fragile beauty of a polar region on the brink of ecological disaster, and read as elegies to a disappearing world. Simon will join Faber Members at The Bindery to discuss the journey behind the poems and how poetry can respond to the environmental crisis, alongside reading from his work, The Cryosphere. Join Faber Members via the link for tickets. 
 
Oct 27-30Lisbon Revisited 2023, Simon Armitage joins the international literary festival at Casa Fernando Pessoa, Rua Coelho da Rocha 16-18, Campo de Ourique, 1250-088 Lisboa, Portugal. Festival programme available via the link. 
 
Thurs, Nov 2, 7.30-pm An Evening with Simon Armitage, Saffron Hall, Essex, CB11 4UH. Tickets on sale.
 
Tues, Nov 7, 7.30pmSimon Armitage at Tring Book Festival, Court Theatre, Tring, Herts, HP23 5QY. Tickets on sale.
 
Thurs, Nov 9, 7.30pmAn Evening with Simon Armitage, Marylebone Theatre, London NW1 6XT. The evening will include, in part, Simon Armitage reading from his Middle English translations.  Tickets on sale. 
 
Sun, Nov 12, 2.00pmSimon Armitage at Chester Literature Festival, Storyhouse, Hunter St, Chester, CH1 2AR. Tickets on sale.
 
Sat, Nov 18, 8.30pmMusic On Nature, featuring Sam Lee, Robert Macfarlane, Simon Armitage, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett & Hayden Thorpe, Kendal Mountain Festival, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, LA9 4HE. Tickets on sale. Sold out
 
From Dec 8 – Jan 7 – Hansel & Gretel, A beautifully epic new version of The Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, transforms the Globe Theatre this winter. Filled with music, magic, songs and a sprinkling of hope, the stage premiere of this new production of Simon Armitage’s poem, directed by Nick Bagnall (Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Globe). Tickets on sale.

2024

Sat, Jan 20, 7.30pm The Poet Laureate In Conversation with Amanda Dalton, Hebden Bridge Town Hall (Waterfront Hall), HX7 7BY. Tickets on sale.

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Contact

Literary Agent
DGA (David Godwin Associates)
2nd floor, 40 Rosebery Avenue,
Clerkenwell,
London
EC1R 4RX
0207 240 9992
To enquire: philippa@davidgodwinassociates.co.uk

Media Enquiries
Kirsty McLachlan
kirsty@morgangreencreatives.com
Morgan Green Creatives Ltd

To Book a Poetry Reading
The Hawkridge Agency
Enquiries: hawkridgeagency@gmail.com

USA
Anya Backlund
Blue Flower Arts, LLC
PO Box 461,
Northampton,
MA 01061
845 - 677 - 8559
mobile 619-944-9247
fax 845-677-6446
http://www.blueflowerarts.com
Enquiries: anya@blueflowerarts.com

LYR
Enquiries: alex@atticusmgmt.com

Poet Laureate
Enquiries poetlaureatecontact@gmail.com

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