Out of the Blue: Order from Chaos

Hosted by Institute for Human Sciences, Center for International Relations, and AGNI

Award-winning English poet Simon Armitage reads several of his poems, including a commemorative of September 11, 2001, and his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a well-known poem written before 1400 by an unknown author. After his reading, Armitage entertains questions about his poetry style and his thoughts on the craft from moderator Mark Feeney, Boston Globe Living/Arts reporter and winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for criticism, and from audience members.

Armitage says that while poem translation can be constraining at times, it also helps him bring “freshness” back into his poetry voice and gives him a new writing style. He also gives his opinion on the difference between poetry in the United Kingdom and in the United States, saying that a common reader still exists in the United Kingdom and that poetry is very much a part of modern, everyday culture. In the United States, he says, the common reader has been replaced by a special group of poetry enthusiasts and a wide poetry audience may no longer exist.

September 21, 2009, 7 p.m.

Photonics Center

Video Length is01:25:37.

About the Speaker:

Simon Armitage has published fourteen volumes of poetry, including Killing Time, Selected Poems, Out of the Blue, and The Not Dead. Armitage has received many of England’s top awards for his work, including the Sunday Times Young Author of the Year, a Gregory Award, and a Forward Prize. He has written a number of books, including Little Green Man and The White Stuff, and a best-selling memoir, All Points North. He has also authored a number of translations. He has also worked in film, radio, television, and theater. He has taught at the University of Leeds and the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop, and he is currently a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.

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