''The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed'' is a British podcast and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme in which the

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

Simon Armitage Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds. He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...

speaks to an invited guest, usually in his writing-shed of his Yorkshire home. The first series of twelve hour-long broadcasts began in March 2020, just before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the second series of nine began in July 2021, and the third series began in February 2023. The programme broadcast on 27 May 2020 was recorded while Armitage was self-isolating during the

, and was the last of the first series. The broadcasts were recorded in Armitage's writing shed in the garden of his home in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. The contents of the shed include "a harmonium, a pizza oven, a daybed, books on birdspotting, a decent spread of music cassettes, and an impressive collection of sherry", and he has described it as "close to nature without camping on the lawn, it's half inside and half outside". Armitage and his guest have a wide-ranging conversation, often touching on his ongoing translation of the medieval poem ''

The Owl and the Nightingale ''The Owl and the Nightingale'' ( la, Altercatio inter filomenam et bubonem) is a twelfth- or thirteenth-century Middle English poem detailing a debate between an owl and a nightingale as overheard by the poem's narrator. It is the earliest exam ...

'', and the guest answers a series of quick-fire questions such as "night or day, north or south, ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...

'' or ''

In Our Time In Our Time may refer to: * ''In Our Time'' (1944 film), a film starring Ida Lupino and Paul Henreid * ''In Our Time'' (1982 film), a Taiwanese anthology film featuring director Edward Yang; considered the beginning of the "New Taiwan Cinema" * ''In ...

''?" before being offered a glass of

sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

. In series 3, broadcast in 2023, the podcast available on

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is a Closed platform, walled garden streaming media and audio download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile pho ...

was up to 60 mins long but only a shortened version of 30 mins was broadcast on Radio 4.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed BBC Radio 4 programmes 2020 radio programme debuts