Simon Armitage

The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed

The Poet Laureate has gone to his shed on his own this week. Simon Armitage can't ask any guests to join him in his writing shed in West Yorkshire due to the Coronavirus. So he sits in the moonlight hoping to catch an owl in the garden to inspire his writing, and to think about the world beyond as he approaches the end of his translation of the medieval poem The Owl and the Nightingale.

It's a beautifully still night. Poetry, contemplation, storytelling - with a few jokes along the way - and a few musical instruments to charm the owls out of the trees.