Simon Armitage was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in 1963 and educated at Portsmouth Polytechnic (B. A. Honours, 1984) and the Victoria University of Manchester (certificate of qualification in social work and M. A., 1988). He has worked as a probation officer in Manchester and as the poetry editor at Chatto and Windus in London. He was awarded an Eric Gregory award and that of the Society of Authors, 1988, the Poetry Book Society Choice, 1989, and became Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, 1993. He has published numerous volumes of both poetry and prose.
From the guide to the Literary manuscripts of Simon Armitage, ca. 1987-2001, (Leeds University Library)