SIMON Armitage has returned to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park for the launch of his new book, which was inspired by the park.
Simon, one of the country’s leading contemporary poets, has long admired the park in West Bretton and is a regular visitor.
Last year, as part of the YSP’s 30th anniversary celebrations, that relationship took on an even greater meaning when he was invited to become its visiting artist.
It was a chance for Simon to spend more time at the park and to write a series of poems based on what he experienced there.
What followed was a series of events which were to prove among the most memorable in the park’s celebratory year.
Simon, who lives with his family in the Huddersfield area, wrote a series of poems which he then read at twilight in a variety of mainly outdoor venues in the park.
Simon read poems in areas around the park as the September light faded and tailored them to the location. There were sittings in Camellia House, James Turrell Skyspace and Longside Gallery and were some of the most memorable moments of the park’s anniversary celebrations.
Simon returned to the park to launch a book which brings together all of that work. The book, called The Twilight Readings and published by the YSP, features photographs taken at the readings by Holme Valley-based photographer Jonty Wilde.
Together, Simon’s words and Jonty’s images celebrate a project which, for many, will remain one of the highlights of the celebratory year for the park.
The book, which Simon launched at the YSP by reading it to an invited audience, is available at the park’s visitor centre.
