Simon Armitage (born in Huddersfield, UK on 26 May 1963) is a British poet, playwright, and novelist. Before finding success with his poetry he worked as a probation officer, an undertaker's assistant and a supermarket shelf stacker. He has received numerous awards for his poetry, including The Sunday Times Author of the Year, a Forward Prize, a Lannan Award, and an Ivor Novello Award for his song lyrics in the Channel 4 film Feltham Sings. In 20...
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Simon Armitage (born in Huddersfield, UK on 26 May 1963) is a British poet, playwright, and novelist. Before finding success with his poetry he worked as a probation officer, an undertaker's assistant and a supermarket shelf stacker. He has received numerous awards for his poetry, including The Sunday Times Author of the Year, a Forward Prize, a Lannan Award, and an Ivor Novello Award for his song lyrics in the Channel 4 film Feltham Sings. In 2000, he was made the UK's official Millennium Poet during which time he wrote his 1,000 line poem "Killing Time" about news events of the previous year. He was one of the judges for the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize and in 2006 was one of the judges for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. His writing is characterised by a dry, native Yorkshire wit combined with "an accessible, realist style and critical seriousness."
Armitage first studied at Colne Valley High School, Linthwaite, Huddersfield, UK. He then went on to study geography at Portsmouth...
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