Yorkshire poet Simon Armitage chosen by BBC to write a poem as part of its 100-year celebrations

The BBC is celebrating a century of poetry broadcasting with specially assigned poems by Simon, who hails from Huddersfield, and rising Scottish-Caribbean poet and performer Courtney Stoddart.

The theme is 100 years of the BBC and each poem will look into the relationship between the broadcaster and the nation; Simon’s poem, Transmission Report, will focus on the BBC from a unique perspective, whilst Courtney’s poem, The Invitation, will look into the next century of public service broadcasting.

Both poems will be broadcast during the BBC’s special week of centenary scheduling, running from October 22 to 29, with further details released soon.

BBC 100 executive editor, James Stirling, said: “I am delighted that we’re honouring the BBC’s 100-year commitment to connecting viewers and listeners to music and poetry with two of the UK’s finest contemporary poets.

“The poems will be a wonderful addition to our week of special centenary programming.”

Simon is the UK Poet Laureate of Poetry at the University of Leeds and former professor of poetry at Oxford University.

He is also a renowned broadcaster, playwright, memoirist and song-lyricist; his latest collection of poems Magnetic Field, attracted widespread attention. He presents the BBC Radio 4 series The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed, and his most recent poem was Floral Tribute, written as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II following her death on September 8, 2022.

Courtney Stoddart is a well-known poet and performer, who was born and raised in Edinburgh. She began performing in April 2019 and has since had a meteoric rise, performing on both national and international stages within the last two years.

In June 2019, Courtney took part in the BBC Radio 1xtra and BBC Contains Strong Language Festival World’s First Talent Scheme, making it to the final 12. She was also selected to be published in an anthology by Own It! London and edited by Jude Yawson, co-writer of Stormzy’s Rise Up: The Story So Far.