Friday 15th June 2007 arrived and many teachers and Year 10 pupils were eagerly awaiting the performance of prominent Yorkshire poet and novelist, Simon Armitage. Simon previously won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and has worked extensively in radio, film and television. The vast majority of pupils in the country will study his poems at GCSE level.
Despite his indisputable acclaim, Simon transformed pupils’ expectations of what a ‘typical’ poet might be like; he was funny, down to earth and inspiring. It was an invaluable experience for pupils to hear poems they have studied and seen on the page performed and brought to life by their creator.
Despite animating his own poems, Simon even upheld his modesty when it came to discussing the ownership of his work. When questioned about his poems’ meanings he humbly announced: ‘Once I’ve written something it doesn’t belong to me any more – the meaning belongs to the reader’.
This was fabulously empowering for pupils to hear; individual interpretation and creativity are essential tools in the successful study of Literature and Simon actively encouraged pupils to use their imaginations in their studies. And that is the beauty of all literature; it creates new worlds and experiences – no exact interpretation of any text is ever entirely right or wrong and Simon reaffirmed this for everyone.
We hope to welcome Simon back next year and he has promised to be our ‘pet poet’.
Kate Midgley
Despite his indisputable acclaim, Simon transformed pupils’ expectations of what a ‘typical’ poet might be like; he was funny, down to earth and inspiring. It was an invaluable experience for pupils to hear poems they have studied and seen on the page performed and brought to life by their creator.
Despite animating his own poems, Simon even upheld his modesty when it came to discussing the ownership of his work. When questioned about his poems’ meanings he humbly announced: ‘Once I’ve written something it doesn’t belong to me any more – the meaning belongs to the reader’.
This was fabulously empowering for pupils to hear; individual interpretation and creativity are essential tools in the successful study of Literature and Simon actively encouraged pupils to use their imaginations in their studies. And that is the beauty of all literature; it creates new worlds and experiences – no exact interpretation of any text is ever entirely right or wrong and Simon reaffirmed this for everyone.
We hope to welcome Simon back next year and he has promised to be our ‘pet poet’.
Kate Midgley
