Join Simon Armitage to celebrate his new illustrated poetry collection Dwell, inspired by the Lost Gardens of Heligan, an ambitious restoration project where history and mystery combine. The reawakened landscape with its woods, meadows and ‘jungle’ offers a bustling, fertile realm for all sorts of creatures to inhabit. Armitage uses elements of riddle and folklore to animate a series of dwellings: the ‘twig-and-leaf crow’s-nest squat’ of a squirrel’s drey, a beaver lodge’s ‘spillikin stave church’ and a hive’s ‘reactor core’. Distinctions between human and animal, natural and cultivated, are blurred, emphasising commonality and creating a vibrant account of ‘non-stop stop-motion life’. Dwell warns of the fragility of these spaces and their dwellers, exposed to relentless and sadly familiar environmental threats. Just as a garden provides refuge for wildlife, so do these intricate poems offer lasting homes to those who dwell within their lines. This unmissable afternoon will feature screen projections of the book’s glorious artwork by Cornish print-maker Beth Munro alongside the poetry readings. The Poet Laureate will also answer questions from the audience and be available afterwards to sign books. Simon Armitage is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and has received an Ivor Novello for his song-writing.
