Simon Armitage in conversation with Rebecca Jones

Poet laureate Simon Armitage talks about his writing life and about a new collection of poems, Blossomise, that celebrates the transformations of spring.

Blossomise is a collaboration between Armitage and illustrator Angela Harding. The 22 poems range between haikus that honour Japanese traditions of the blossom festival to stylistic pieces that take on the tones of ballads, hymns, songs, prayers and nursery rhymes. Blossom is explored as an emblem of the natural world and as a marker of our vulnerable climate.

Armitage holds the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and is half way through his ten-year term as Poet Laureate. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds. He is author of more than 20 collections of poetry including The Dead Sea Poems, winner of the Forward Poetry Prize, Seeing Stars and Magnetic Field and an acclaimed translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He writes for television, radio and theatre and is author of two novels and works of non-fiction. Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch. There are no specific duties, but the holder is expected to write verse to mark significant national occasions. Here Armitage talks to former BBC arts correspondent and chief news presenter Rebecca Jones, whose 30 years with the BBC included anchoring coverage of major events including the Queen’s death, war in Ukraine and the London Bridge terror attack.