Known for Writing
Simon Robert Armitage, CBE, FRSL is an English poet, playwright and novelist who was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is also professor of poetry at the University of Leeds and succeeded Geoffrey Hill as Oxford Professor of Poetry when he was elected to the four year part time appointment from 2015–2019.
Born
May 26, 1963 (age 63)
Birthplace
Marsden, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Filmography
24 films, 7 shows
A Pandemic Poem: Where Did the World Go?
A Pandemic Poem: Where Did the World Go?
2021 · 59m
country: United Kingdom
A powerful and moving examination of the pandemic, using poetry as a central narrative and featuring people from around the country who tell us their stories of life under Covid-19.


Last Words
2017 · 5m
country: United Kingdom
C finds love through a chance encounter in this emotive, witty and deeply visual reimagining of a poem by Simon Armitage.


Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster
2015 · 50m
country: United Kingdom
In 2007, Sophie Lancaster was beaten to death because of her appearance. Her story is told through a sequence of poems by Simon Armitage and through the interviews made by her mother in the wake of the tragedy. Adapted for television from the poetry anthology/stage production and radio adaptation.
The Raft of the Medusa
The Raft of the Medusa
2015 · 47m
country: United Kingdom
After months of continuous rain, all coastal areas of the UK are flooded. Bella and Jude are marooned on their flooded farm, cut off from any contact with the world outside.


Gods and Monsters: Homer's Odyssey
2010 · 1h
country: United Kingdom
Virginia Woolf said that Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was 'alive to every tremor and gleam of existence'. Following the magical and strange adventures of warrior king Odysseus, inventor of the idea of the Trojan horse, the poem can claim to be the greatest story ever told. Now British poet Simon Armitage goes on his own Greek adventure, following in the footsteps of one of his own personal heroes. Yet Simon ponders the question of whether he even likes the guy.


The Making of King Arthur
2010 · 58m
country: United Kingdom
Poet Simon Armitage traces the evolution of the Arthurian legend through the literature of the medieval age and reveals that King Arthur is not the great national hero he is usually considered to be. He's a fickle and transitory character who was appropriated by the Normans to justify their conquest, he was cuckolded when French writers began adapting the story and it took Thomas Malory's masterpiece of English literature, Le Mort d'Arthur, to restore dignity and reclaim him as the national hero we know today.


Climate of Change
2010 · 1h 26m
country: United Kingdom
"We are the renters of this world, not its masters," reminds Pooshkar, a precocious 13-year-old member of a youth environmental defense group in India. He and his fellow voraciously energetic students actively rally against the use of plastics. In Africa, a renaissance man teaches citizens to harness solar power to cook food. In Papua New Guinea, villagers practice sustainable logging to save their rainforests. A woman in London uses her PR savvy to start a successful environmental communications firm. Self-described "hillbillies" in Appalachia battle the big business behind strip mining. In this rich and inspiring documentary, director Brian Hill takes us around the world to find the ordinary people taking action in the fight to save our environment.


Upgrade Me
2009
country: Unknown
Poet and gadget lover Simon Armitage explores people's obsession with upgrading to the latest technological gadgetry. Upgrade culture drives millions to purchase the latest phones, flatscreen TVs, laptops and MP3 players. But is it design, functionality, fashion or friends that makes people covet the upgrade, and how far does the choice of gadgets define identity? Simon journeys across Britain and to South Korea in search of answers.


BBC Four Presents: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
2009 · 59m
country: Unknown
Poet Simon Armitage goes on the trail of one of the jewels in the crown of British poetry, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written about 600 years ago by an unknown author. The poem has got just about everything - it is an action-packed adventure, a ghost story, a steamy romance, a morality tale and the world's first eco-poem. Armitage follows in the footsteps of the poem's hero, Gawain, through some of Britain's most beautiful and mystical landscapes and reveals why an absurd tale of a knight beheading a green giant is as relevant and compelling today as when it was written.


The Not Dead
2007 · 1h 30m
country: United Kingdom
Interviews with ex-soldiers who have served in recent conflicts, many of them now suffering PTSD. But they survived while their mates were killed. They are The Not Dead. After listening to their experiences and their problems, Simon Armitage writes a poem about their experiences which they then read out on camera.
Songbirds
Songbirds
2007 · 1h 2m
country: United Kingdom
Women in an English prison use musical therapy to deal with their life behind bars.


Out of the Blue
2006 · 39m
country: United Kingdom
Told from the point of view of an English trader working in the North Tower of the World Trade Centre, the poem-film Out Of The Blue was commissioned by Channel 5 and broadcast five years after the 9.11 attacks on America.
Feltham Sings
Feltham Sings
2003 · 1h
country: United Kingdom
A documentary film crew go into Feltham young offenders prison where the teenagers who left are 75% likely to re-offend. The film talks to a handful of inmates about life in prison and how they got there in the first place. Oh yeah - and it's a musical!


Drinking for England
1998 · 50m
country: United Kingdom
Explores the importance of an attitudes towards consumption of alcohol in English society by following five subjects through interviews, recitals of poetry, and song.