In July 2023, the Station had one of its first ‘By Royal Appointment’ guests, when the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage came to visit. Simon has made the changing climate and environment, and the human response to it, a central part of his ten-year Laureate-ship. He was visiting with the BBC Radio ‘Contains Strong Language’ team to produce a series of programmes reflecting on the Arctic, wildlife and environmental change. The poems that Simon wrote whilst visiting Ny-Ålesund and other locations in Norway, and which he read during the broadcasts, are an evocative and powerful reminder that this part of the Arctic is at the leading edge of our changing climate. The ‘Poet Laureate in the Arctic’ episodes are available via the BBC website: Thank you to Simon and Sue Roberts (BBC) for being such enthusiastic and thoughtful guests. The Cryosphere by Simon Armitage is published by Faber and includes the three poems that Simon Armitage wrote: ‘The Cryosphere’, ‘Birds of the Arctic’ and ‘Polar Bear’.
