Simon Armitage was born in 1963 and lives in West Yorkshire. As a post-graduate student at Manchester University his MA thesis concerned the effects of television violence on young offenders. Until 1994 he worked as Probation Officer in Greater Manchester. His first book, Zoom! (Bloodaxe, 1989) was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award, with 'the freshness of pub talk, a comedian's sense of timing, but more than that, a brilliant use of poetic rhythm' (Peter Forbes).

He has published nine volumes of poetry including Killing Time, (Faber, 1999), Selected Poems (Faber, 2001), The Universal Home Doctor ( Faber, 2002) and Tyrannoraurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid (Faber, 2006). He has received numerous awards for his poetry including the Sunday Times Author of the Year, one of the first Forward Prizes and a Lannan Award. He also writes for radio, television, film and stage, and his novels Little Green Man and The White Stuff are published by Viking.

Simon Armitage has taught at the University of Leeds, the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, and Manchester Metropolitan University. With Robert Crawford he edited The Penguin Anthology of Poetry from Britain and Ireland Since 1945. Other anthologies include Short and Sweet – 101 Very Short Poems, and a selection of Ted Hughes’ poetry, both published by Faber.

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