Simon Armitage

Simon Armitage has published ten volumes of poetry including Selected Poems, 2001 (Faber & Faber). His most recent collections are Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid and Seeing Stars, both published by Faber & Faber in the UK and Knopf in the United States.

His first novel, Little Green Man, was published by Penguin in 2001. His second novel, The White Stuff, was published in 2004.

From his Q & A with Anna Metcalfe for the Financial Times:

Which literary character most resembles you?

Robinson Crusoe. Writing cuts you off from a lot of things. It’s a solitary adventure.

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Who are your literary influences?

When I started it was Hughes, Heaney, Harrison, Hill, Hopkins, Hardy, people whose name begins with an ‘H’ really. I have also translated a lot of medieval poetry.

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What was the first novel you read?

Under my own steam it was The Wind in the Willows. I used to get into the airing cupboard at home and read on a wooden shelf in semidarkness. It was a bit awkward when people came into the bathroom and didn’t know I was in there.

Read the complete Q & A.

--Marshal Zeringue