The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed

The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed is a British podcast and BBC Radio 4 programme in which the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage 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 second series of nine began in July 2021,[1][2][3][4][5] and the third series began in February 2023.[6] The programme broadcast on 27 May 2020 was recorded while Armitage was self-isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was the last of the first series.[7]

The broadcasts were recorded in Armitage's writing shed in the garden of his home in West Yorkshire. 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",[8] and he has described it as "close to nature without camping on the lawn, it's half inside and half outside".[9] Armitage and his guest have a wide-ranging conversation, often touching on his ongoing translation of the medieval poem The Owl and the Nightingale, and the guest answers a series of quick-fire questions such as "night or day, north or south, Woman's Hour or In Our Time?" before being offered a glass of sherry.[10][11]

In series 3, broadcast in 2023, the podcast available on BBC Sounds was up to 60 mins long but only a shortened version of 30 mins was broadcast on Radio 4.

On 2024 Radio 4 announced that it would not re-commission the series, a decision that Armitage described as "utterly bewildering".[12] Speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival in April 2025, Armitage announced that the show would be revived with a different broadcaster, probably as a podcast.[13] He reiterated his dissatisfaction with the BBC's decision not to make another series:

And, for reasons that I don’t understand and I bellyache about, they didn't commission another series. I really don’t understand it. It's very cheap to make. And it's regional – you can't get much more regional than me sitting in the garden. It was just me and a lawnmower.[13]

Episodes

Episodes
SeriesEpisode numberFirst broadcastGuestNotes
114 March 2020Guy Garvey, singer, music presenter, birdwatcher[14][15]
211 March 2020Kae Tempest, author[16][17]
318 March 2020Testament, rapper and beatboxing champion[10][18]
425 March 2020Maxine Peake, actor[19]
51 April 2020Antony Gormley, sculptor[20]
68 April 2020Lily Cole, model and entrepreneur[21]
715 April 2020Sam Lee, singer[22]
822 April 2020Melanie Plimmer, judge[23]
96 May 2020Jackie Kay, poet[24]
1013 May 2020Laura Ashe, historian[25][11]
1120 May 2020Chris Packham[26][27]
1227 May 2020No guestRecorded in self-isolation[7]
2133 July 2021Johnny Marr, guitarist and member of The Smiths[28][29]
1410 July 2021Amanda Owen, shepherdess[30][31]
1517 July 2021Imtiaz Dharker, poet[32]
1624 July 2021J. K. Rowling, writer[33]
1731 July 2021Jo Whiley, radio and television presenter[34]
187 August 2021Gillian Burke, television presenterRecorded in Gyllyngdune Gardens in Falmouth.[35]
1914 August 2021John Tiffany, theatre director[36]
2021 August 2021Sabrina Verjee, vet and ultrarunner[37]
2128 August 2021Prince Charles, Prince of WalesRecorded in the Prince's "shed",
a barn at Llwynywermod in Wales.[38][39][40]
3225 February 2023Ian McKellen, actor[6][41]
2312 February 2023Lucy Beaumont, comedian[42]
2419 February 2023Simon Dobson, composer and conductor[43]
2526 February 2023Pam Ayres, poet[44]
265 March 2023Loyle Carner, musicianRecorded in Carner's studio in Hackney, London. [45]
2712 March 2023Olive Senior, poet

[46]

2819 March 2023Glyn Maxwell, poet[47]
2926 March 2023Julie Hesmondhalgh[48]

References

  1. ↑ "Simon Armitage invites guests for sherry in The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed". Financial Times. 12 April 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  2. ↑ "The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed returns to Radio 4". RadioToday. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  3. ↑ Maier, John. "Contains moments of spellbinding banality: Radio 4's The Poet Laureate has Gone to his Shed reviewed". The Spectator. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Guy Garvey - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed - ManchesterTheatres.com". Manchester Theatres. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed". Listen Notes. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  6. 1 2 "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Ian McKellen". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  7. 1 2 "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Simon Armitage". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Alex (12 March 2020). "A tour of Simon Armitage's writing shed". Shedworking. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (4 March 2020). "Poet Laureate Simon Armitage launches BBC podcast from his garden shed". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  10. 1 2 "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Welcome to The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  11. 1 2 Wickham, Edward (5 June 2020). "Radio review: The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Analysis: Identity wars, and The Archers". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  12. ↑ Sanderson, David (14 October 2024). "BBC should not have axed my shed show, poet laureate says". Sunday Times. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  13. 1 2 Singh, Anita (6 April 2025). "Poet Laureate revives axed BBC Radio 4 show as podcast". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  14. ↑ "Guy Garvey - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed - ManchesterTheatres.com". Manchester Theatres. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "Guy Garvey: Nine things we learned when he spoke to Simon Armitage". BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  16. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Kate Tempest". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "Kate Tempest: 10 things we learned when she spoke to Simon Armitage". BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  18. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Testament". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Maxine Peake". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  20. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Antony Gormley". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Lily Cole". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  22. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Sam Lee". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Judge Melanie Plimmer". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  24. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Jackie Kay". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  25. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Laura Ashe". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  26. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Chris Packham". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  27. ↑ "Chris Packham: Seven things we learned when he spoke to Simon Armitage". BBC.
  28. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Amanda Owen". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  29. ↑ "Johnny Marr: 10 things we learned when he spoke to Simon Armitage". BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  30. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Amanda Owen". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  31. ↑ "Simon Armitage does Haiku". Julie Mellor - poet. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  32. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Imtiaz Dharker". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  33. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, JK Rowling". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  34. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Jo Whiley". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  35. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Gillian Burke". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  36. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, John Tiffany". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  37. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Sabrina Verjee". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  38. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, HRH Prince Charles". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  39. ↑ "The Prince of Wales appears on 'The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed'". www.princeofwales.gov.uk. Prince of Wales. 28 August 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  40. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (11 August 2021). "Prince Charles invites Poet Laureate Simon Armitage into his garden shed for Radio 4 chat". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  41. ↑ "Sir Ian McKellen: 10 things we learned when he spoke to the Poet Laureate". BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  42. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Lucy Beaumont". BBC. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  43. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Simon Dobson". BBC. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  44. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Pam Ayres". BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  45. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Loyle Carner". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  46. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Olive Senior". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  47. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Glyn Maxwell". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  48. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed, Julie Hesmondhalgh". BBC. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
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