Armitage embarks on next leg of UK libraries tour

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage is embarking on the next leg of his 10-year tour of libraries across the UK.

The tour—which uses the alphabet as its framework—kicked off in 2021 at libraries whose village, town or city started with the letters A or B. Every spring since, Armitage has worked his way through a new set of libraries with this year’s dates focusing on the letters E through to G.

Starting on 17th March, the poet will deliver readings at libraries in Exeter, Glastonbury, Eastbourne, Fakenham, Flintshire and Ellesmere Port. Several guests will be joining him along the way, including the ‘ambient post-rock’ band Land Yacht Regatta in Exeter, Ginko Prize winner Jane Lovell in Glastonbury, poets Matt Howard and Jenna Hunt in Fakenham, National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa at Gladstone’s Library in Flintshire and—at the finale in Ellesmere Port Library—National Canal Laureate Roy McFarlane.

Armitage said: “My experience of reading and writing began in the village library where I grew up, then in the nearby town library, then in libraries at various places of study and teaching. For many people they are an invaluable aspect of everyday life, giving access not just to books but to services, learning, conversation and creative thinking. I want to pay my respects to these unique institutions. By planning readings up to a decade in advance I’m being optimistic about the future of our libraries and challenging those authorities who would consider closing them down.

“It would have been easy to stream these events from my office or garden shed but at a time when libraries are under threat and have been out of bounds during the pandemic, reading from inside their physical structures feels like an act of solidarity—with books, with poetry, and with communities.”

Alongside his libraries tour, Armitage’s programme for the laureateship includes the establishment of a National Poetry Centre and the Laurel Prize, an annual award for environmentally themed poetry, now in its fourth year.

The E to G Libraries Tour is supported by the T S Eliot Foundation, Mark Pigott and Faber & Faber.