Simon Armitage, Stephen Hough, Chris Riddell on Asterix creator Albert Uderzo
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage on his new collection inspired by Yorkshire. Pianist Stephen Hough plays live. And Chris Riddell pays tribute to Asterix creator Albert Uderzo.
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage talks about his new poetry collection Magnetic Field: the Marsden Poems, which is inspired by the West Yorkshire village he grew up in.
As classical musicians struggle to cope with the loss of their income due to the cancellation of all concerts, Samira is joined by music critic Anna Picard, Deborah Annetts of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, and pianist Stephen Hough, who plays live from his home.
Former Children's Laureate Chris Riddell pays tribute to the French comic book artist Albert Uderzo, co-creator of Asterix, who has died aged 92.
Presenter: Timothy Prosser
Producer: Samira Ahmed
Main Image: Simon Armitage
Image credit: Robert Shiret/Â鶹Éç
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Simon Armitage
by is out now in hardback.
Simon Armitage's podcast The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed isÌýon Â鶹Éç Sounds
Images:
Main image above: Simon Armitage and his shed
Image credit: Robert Shiret/Â鶹Éç
Image to the left: Simon Armitage
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The Poet Laureate responds to the coronavirus crisis
Lockdown
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And I couldn’t escape the waking dream
of infected fleas
Ìý
in the warp and weft of soggy cloth
by the tailor’s hearth
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in ye olde Eyam.
Then couldn’t un-see
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the Boundary Stone,
that cock-eyed dice with its six dark holes,
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thimbles brimming with vinegar wine
purging the plagued coins.
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Which brought to mind the sorry story
of Emmott Syddall and Rowland Torre,
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star-crossed lovers on either side
of the quarantine line
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whose wordless courtship spanned the river
till she came no longer.
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But slept again,
and dreamt this time
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of the exiled yaksha sending word
to his lost wife on a passing cloud,
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a cloud that followed an earthly map
of camel trails and cattle tracks,
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streams like necklaces,
fan-tailed peacocks, painted elephants,
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embroidered bedspreads
of meadows and hedges,
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bamboo forests and snow-hatted peaks,
waterfalls, creeks,
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the hieroglyphs of wide-winged cranes
and the glistening lotus flower after rain,
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the air
hypnotically see-through, rare,
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the journey a ponderous one at times, long and slow
but necessarily so.
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Simon Armitage
Stephen Hough
Stephen Hough's album is out now.
Image:
Image credit: Sim Canetty-Clarke/Â鶹Éç
Remembering Albert Uderzo
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Image: Albert Uderzo with his creations Asterix (Right) and Obelix.
Image credit: (c) Philippe Cauvin
Broadcast
- Tue 24 Mar 2020 19:15Â鶹Éç Radio 4
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