Award winning British poet, playwright, and novelist Simon Armitage is in many senses “singing for his super” by walking the 264-mile Pennine Way with no money and instead staging nightly poetry readings in halls, houses and pubs en route in return for donations, accommodation and food.
The poet who has been the recipient of accolates such as The Sunday Times Author of the Year, a Forward Prize, a Lannan Award and an Ivor Novello Award is embarking on this trek to see if he really can make his poetry pay it’s way, along with an attempt to make the readings much more intimate and personal to those who come to listen.
As he nears the end of the journey, it seems it really is paying off with large groups coming to listen to the poet reading his own popular works including GCSE students who stood at the back of The Lodge – a remote Derbyshire study centre – and who will most likely be studying this modern day poet’s works for their exams.
The motivation for all this? Armitage says along with bringing the poetry to the people, a big motivation is to recreate the ways of the Medieval poets who would tour the countryside in the same way before the invention of the printing press.
Armitage now plans to put some of his experiences into a book about the people he has met along the way.
