Simon to appear at city book festival

Award-winning poet, playwright, novelist, lyricist and broadcaster Simon Armitage will be appearing at Déda in Derby on Thursday, June 4, as part of the first Derby Book Festival, which will be held in the city from June 1-7.

Simon will read from Paper Aeroplane, a selection which marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of his ground-breaking first poetry collection Zoom! - and also from new work.

Simon has published over a dozen collections of poetry including Seeing Stars and his acclaimed translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

His poems have been part of GCSE and A level exams for nearly two decades, and this summer sees publication of Walking Away, the follow-up to his best-selling memoir Walking Home, which feature Simon’s journey along the Pennine Way, walking south from Scotland to Derbyshire, giving poetry readings along the way often in exchange for food or accommodation.

The event will begin with the announcement of the winner of a poetry competition with the winning poem being read on stage before Simon’s performance. His performance starts at 7.30pm and tickets are on sale from Déda at £12 each. See www.deda.uk.com