"I’ve always written poems about the area where I live, and my interests in things like the Antarctic and the Arctic and geography generally, all those subject matters are shaded now by the environmental situation." Simon Armitage is a geographer, and the Poet Laureate. He grew up near Huddersfield, where I studied for my degree. His job carries a salary of £5000, and he has announced a new Poetry prize called the Laurel Prize for works on the theme of the environment and climate change. He has a lot of geographical credentials. He produced an excellent book around a visit to Iceland with Glyn Maxwell, following an early journey by W H Auden. He created some excellent radio programmes with a geographical theme, including one on the volcanic island of Surtsey His book 'All Points North' explored conceptions of the north. He has produced two books describing long distance footpaths and his experiences of the Pennine Way and the SW Coastal Path. He rece
