Poet Laureate Simon Armitage Visits Queen Anne's School

On Thursday 14 November, the whole of Queen Anne’s School gathered in the school hall in anticipation. The English Department had arranged a very special guest speaker: the UK’s Poet Laureate Simon Armitage.

Simon Armitage has been one of the country’s leading and well-loved poets for two decades, and many of our students have studied his work during their English lessons. Each year our GCSE English students visit Poetry Live, where Mr Armitage is often a guest speaker, and his work has clearly had an impact on their literary experience.

Earlier this year Simon Armitage was named the UK’s new Poet Laureate, a prestigious title and role which he will hold for ten years. To have such a poet visit the school and answer our girls’ questions in person was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Simon Armitage spent much of his appearance at Queen Anne’s talking about and reading a number of his favourite, and most famous, poems.
His poems explore a variety of themes, which he spoke about throughout the afternoon. Poems such as ‘Zodiac Tshirt’ and ‘Killing Time’ were both inspired by music, and often intentionally sounded as if they were written to be sung.

Other poems were inspired by the small village of Marsden, in Yorkshire, where Mr Armitage grew up. Poems such as ‘Mother, Any Distance’ and ‘The Shout’ explore the themes of coming-of-age, his family and the journey into adulthood.

Throughout his talk, Simon Armitage provided many amusing anecdotes, but also many heartfelt musings about what it means to write poetry.

“Back then anything that was exciting happened in a phone box.”

“Poetry is about trying to find a textural style of talking about the same old subject.”

When it came to answering questions from the girls, many interesting topics of discussion arose.
One question asked was “Is it important that you say the words of your poems, or would it make a difference if someone else was speaking them?” Mr Armitage answered that he is very happy for others to read his poems, as often each person created a different rhythm, musicality and meaning to a poem: “A poem should have a life beyond the person it is written by.”

When asked about the most interesting poem he has ever written, Simon Armitage revealed that it was probably a set of poems, compiled in a book called ‘Black Roses’. These poems were written in the voice of Sophie Lancaster, a young woman who was murdered simply for the way she dressed. Mr Armitage was incredibly nervous to undertake this project, but found it incredibly involving and interesting. It was also very moving to work with Sophie Lancaster’s family and the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

Another question asked was “Are there any subjects that cannot be communicated through poetry?” to which the answer was simply “No.”

Simon Armitage also spoke about poetry as an art form in the modern age:

Sometimes poetry is seen as an old-fashioned art form. But it is still the most accessible. All you need is a pen and paper, or even just your phone, and all you have to know is the alphabet! It has always been very available.
Over the last 10-15 years I have seen a huge explosion in performance poetry. I get tired of hearing that young people aren’t interested in poetry, because that is simply not true.

Finishing with one last poem, ‘Leaves on the Line’, Simon Armitage ended his talk with a round of applause from the packed school hall. Our girls would take away his words of wisdom, and utilise these in their own writing and English classes.

A big thank you goes to the English Department for organising this fascinating afternoon, and allowing the girls to delve into the mind of a great poet.