Simon Armitage

The village of Marsden lies in the Pennines on the Lancashire/ Yorkshire border. In a series of funny, perceptive articles, Simon Armitage describes the place and its people.

Poet Ian McMillan is our host in this gleeful game of literary tomfoolery, outrageous parody and biting wit. Joining him for some lighthearted competitive wordplay are a quartet of writers and comedians, all ready and eager to run riot through the halls of great literature.

Their bookish challenges include 'New Beginnings and Endings', which sees them topping and tailing well-known literary works to produce some very tall tales, 'Sound Effects', where they have to guess a book title from a mélange of sounds, and 'Conversation Consequences', where they imagine some unlikely meetings between fictional characters. Mrs Malaprop shares a Jacuzzi with Eliza Doolittle, Inspector Clouseau takes Blanche Dubois to a dance and The Dong with the luminous nose honks hooters with Cyrano de Bergerac...

Award winning classic stories from Greek mythology, reimagined by Simon Armitage and Linda Marshall Griffiths - plus bonus material

With their epic tales of gods, heroes, magic and monsters, the Greek myths have thrilled us for over 2000 years, and inspired countless adaptations. Now, in this captivating collection, two award-winning playwrights bring their own fresh, contemporary takes to the famous legends of Odysseus, Orpheus and Eurydice.

Simon Armitage's Missing Presumed Dead: The Odyssey weaves together Homeric myth and modern-day politics, as a senior politician with a colourful past is sent on a diplomatic mission to Istanbul, only to find himself at the centre of an international incident. On the run from the authorities, he is plunged into the ancient past where his Odyssey begins, as he contends with supernatural beings and unnatural phenomena from the Cyclops and Circe to Sirens, storms and shipwreck. Will he survive, and get back home? Meanwhile, in the present day, his wife and son are besieged by the press, desperate to hear the full story... This gripping dramatisation stars Colin Tierney as Smith/Odysseus.

In two linked plays, with a 4-minute introduction by Simon Armitage, he and Linda Marshall Griffiths each give their versions of the tragedy of Orpheus and his doomed bride. Armitage's Eurydice and Orpheus: Her Story tells the tale of two lovers - lab technician Sanna and busking musician Zak - and a harp that will have a profound, irreversible effect on both their lives. Claire Price stars as Sanna, with Bryan Dick as Zak. And in Orpheus and Eurydice: His Story, by Linda Marshall Griffiths, grief-stricken singer Orfeo journeys into the Underworld to bring back his dead wife, Eurydice. But is love stronger than death, if a backward glance can destroy everything? Starring Nico Mirallegro as Orfeo and Emily Taaffe as Eurydice, and with music by PJ Harvey, this moving drama won the Grand Prix Marulic in 2016.

Also included is a bonus extract from Radio 4's Start the Week, in which Simon Armitage talks to Anne McElvoy about his dramatisation of Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid, The Last Days of Troy.

The village of Marsden, West Yorkshire not only was home to Simon Armitage's beginnings as writer, but has been a vital presence throughout his works: This collection gathers all the Marsden poems together to create a 'poetry of place' edition, which will offer a new way of appraising Simon's body of work, as well as celebrating this overlooked region that has meant so much to him personally.

Simon Armitage's work explores the territory where poetry and song lyric converge, most recently with the 'ambient post-rock' band Land Yacht Regatta. Many of the lyrics collected here were written for LYR. Others are drawn from his days with The Scaremongers, various film and theatre productions including Songbirds and the BAFTA-winning Feltham Sings, and other miscellaneous ventures.

Simon Armitage's extraordinary story about his journey along the Pennine Way, Britain's remote and overlooked interior. He describes the wildness of its landscape and the generosity of the locals who sustained him on his travels.

A collection of poems written and read by the popular northern writer.

The pieces in this collection are set against a backdrop of economic recession and social division and document a world on the brink, a world of unreliable seasons and unstable coordinates.