Olive Senior

The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed

Olive Senior gets the prize as the guest who has travelled the furthest to join Simon Armitage in his writing shed in West Yorkshire. Born in rural Jamaica in Cockpit County, Olive currently lives in Toronto, Canada. At 19 she joined the staff of the Jamaican Gleaner, the main newspaper, where she interviewed visiting celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor.

Poet, novelist, short story and non-fiction writer Olive says she has read everything that comes in front of her all her life. Her latest collection, Hurricane, references a weather hazard that all Jamaicans have to live with. She left Jamaica after Hurricane Gilbert hit the Island in 1988.

Growing up surrounded by books written by British writers, Olive discusses her love-hate relationship with Dickens, and following the death of Queen Elizabeth, a much-loved monarch in Jamaica, ponders the future relationship between the monarchy and Commonwealth countries.

Produced by Susan Roberts