Book excerpt: Simon Armitage is one of the leading poets of his generation. Since his first collection, Zoom, in 1989 he has published ten full-length collections of poetry, while also writing and presenting numerous works for radio, television and film. He is now one of the poets most widely studied at GCSE examination level. This study guide to Simon Armitage's poetry will be essential reading and preparation for GCSE students and their teachers, to whose needs it has been expertly tailored. The book examines Armitage's work in just the ways that students need to think about it - in respect of how the poems are crafted in language and form, and the kinds of themes, ideas and attitudes that they reflect. It also includes sections on studying individual poems for the examination, an illuminating biography with questions and answers and sample essays.