The Latest Breaking News from Simon Armitage

New Cemetery by Simon Armitage audiobook review – the poet laureate’s meditations take flight

The building of a cemetery during the pandemic inspires the Huddersfield-born author to reflect on childhood memories and the changing local landscape

The Guardian - UK · Sep 3

In 4000 BCE, a lake Mega Chad larger than all five Great Lakes covered roughly 360,000 sq km of what is now the Sahara. 6,000 years later, only a tiny fraction, well under 1%, of that ancient lake remains

Thousands of years ago, a vast lake covered an enormous area of what is now the southern Sahara. Known as Palaeolake Mega-Chad, the ancient lake may have reached roughly 360,000 square kilometres, with some estimates exceeding 400,000 square kilometres. Its existence was made possible by the wetter conditions of North…

The Economic Times · Aug 17

Artists, writers and scientists urge UK government to save Jodrell Bank Observatory

New Order and Simon Armitage among more than 100 signatories to criticise ‘foolish and shortsighted’ cuts

The Guardian - UK · Aug 2

Our Freedom: Then and Now explores what freedom means to Brits, 80 years after the second world war

Marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, Our Freedom: Then and Now is a nationwide photography project exploring how communities understand freedom.

The Conversation · Apr 21

Poet laureate Simon Armitage pens London Zoo poem to celebrate 200 years of ZSL

The Moon And The Zoo was described as a ‘powerful reminder of the role people can play in the future of wildlife’.

Evening Standard · Apr 20

‘The Moon and The Zoo’: Simon Armitage poem celebrates 200 years of ZSL

Zoological Society of London commissions poet laureate for animation to mark its 200th anniversary

The Guardian - UK · Apr 20

‘Keep slaying the dragon inside’: Simon Armitage pens poem for World Cancer Day

Poet laureate tackles ‘daunting’ commission from Yorkshire Cancer Research to mark charity’s centenary year

The Guardian - UK · Jan 27

The best poetry books of 2025

From Seamus Heaney’s collected poems and Simon Armitage’s animal spirits, to prizewinners Karen Solie and Vidyan Ravinthiran

The Guardian - UK · Dec 5, 2025

Poem released in honour of Pink Floyd's seminal LP Wish You Were Here by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage

The new poem pays tribute to the "creativity" of late frontman Syd Barrett.

BANG Premier · Oct 28, 2025

Pink Floyd commemorated in new poem from Poet Laureate Simon Armitage

Pink Floyd will release Wish You Were Here 50 on various formats on December 12

Louder · Oct 28, 2025