The London Borough of Bexley are excited to welcome Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, to Thamesmead Library in The Nest building on Saturday 28 February.
The poet, playwright, songwriter and novelist has had more than 20 poetry collections published. His first collection, “Zoom!” was published in 1989.
Simon won the Forward Poetry Prize in 1992 for “Kid” and again in 1995 for “Dead Sea Poems”. In 1993, he was the Sunday Times Writer of the Year.
Following on from Carol Ann Duffy, Simon was appointed as the Poet Laureate in 2019 and will serve until 2029.
During his tenure, Simon has toured between five and seven libraries each Spring across the UK, giving a one-hour poetry reading.
The London Borough of Bexley is thrilled that Simon has chosen to visit one of our libraries this year.
He will be joined by Thamesmead poet, Rachel Long, who has seen her debut poetry collection My Darling from the Lions shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the Costa Book Award, the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Jhalak Prize Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour, and The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.
Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, Cllr Brian Bishop said:
I am delighted Simon Armitage, the national Poet Laureate, will be visiting Bexley in 2026.
It’s a real honour to be included in his library tour and a tremendous opportunity for our residents to enjoy.
Thamesmead Library is our newest library, having opened in April 2023 and is in a lovely spot on the banks of Southmere lake, so will be an ideal venue for this fantastic event.”
The visit marks another key cultural event for our borough following on from the success of #CelebratingBexley and Night Visions.
We remain committed to highlighting the cultural richness of Bexley and are looking ahead to the launch of our Culture Strategy which aims to build even further on this momentum.
All attendees must be aged 11 and over, poetry can contain strong language and parental guidance is advised.
Tickets for this fantastic event are free but must be booked in advance.