Armitage, Simon

(1963- )

   Born in Huddersfield, England, Armitage studied geography at Portsmouth Polytechnic, gained a postgraduate qualification in social work at Manchester University, then worked as a probation officer in Oldham, Lancashire. His poetry is exciting, combining humor with realism and critical seriousness. He has been short listed for major literature prizes and won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award in 1993, and was poet in residence for the New Millennium Experience Company in 1999. Mister Heracles (2000), an adaptation of Euripides' Heracles, was commissioned by the West Yorkshire Playhouse. He has worked extensively in film, radio and television. The Dead Sea Poems (2001) is a collection in which questions of belief and trust, of identity and knowledge, are mingled with more mundane considerations, such as the problems of owning a dog and the vicissitudes of the job market. His "Poem" is a poignant reminder that what we do is sometimes not appreciated by others.

   Sources: British Council (www.contemporarywriters.com). Poemhunter (www.poemhunter.com). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry. Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.