“A night with Simon Armitage and LYR” was everything I thought it would be and more. Simon Armitage is the current Poet Laureate, and, like most British students, I studied his poetry at GCSE which meant that getting to hear him reading his poetry in person was a very special experience.
Originally from Marsden, a village in West Yorkshire, Simon Armitage focuses lots of his poetry on themes of nature and identity. These themes are at the forefront of his two 2025 collections, Dwell and New Cemetery, from which he read from at the event. Armitage’s readings were both entertaining and thought-provoking and it was clear that he had carefully thought through the order of his readings as the flowed in such a way that the audience was laughing one minute and then close to tears the next. He also linked his poems to relatable and funny anecdotes from his own life, giving the audience the sense that they were getting to know the person behind the poet.
Some of my favourite poems from the evening were ‘Deer Diary’, ‘Insect Hotel’ and ‘Sett’, all from Dwell which focuses on the animal world within nature. I particularly enjoyed Armitage’s retelling of his quest to search the internet for a reference to badgers running away in such a manner as they look like their trousers are falling down. It was very heartening to hear that the Poet Laureate also struggles with remembering where he heard or read a phrase!
The second half of the event was a performance by LYR. This is a band formed of Simon Armitage, singer-songwriter Richard Walters and multi-instrumentalist and producer Patrick J Pearson. I had never heard LYR’s music before so I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I came away very impressed by them, and I can now see why they are so firmly established in the contemporary music scene. What I really liked about them was that they used spoken word as well as sung lyrics which really emphasised just how intrinsically connected poetry and music are. It was also very exciting to be given an exclusive sneak peek of two of the songs on their new album, which is being released in the first half of 2026.
I absolutely loved “A night with Simon Armitage and LYR.” I thought it was thought-provoking, funny and inspirational in the best of ways. I even bought a copy of New Cemetery at the end of the evening and got it signed by Simon Armitage himself!
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
