376:, admired the book, writing that "His virtuosity with form and metre has always been remarkable; here it is breakthtaking." She noted that Armitage's persona had changed from his earlier collections, "quit his Northern Ladding and grown up." His style had changed, too: "a morning suit is a big improvement on an anorak". In Barker's view, "the finest and angriest poem in the book" is
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as a punning title, meaning both the means to light fires and "matters matrimonial", with an "anoraky obsession with series". She found the series of wedding poems banal, commenting that praise for the book had come mainly from non-poets.
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as powerfully written with a distinctive approach. It cited the fifth poem in the initial "Book of
Matches" section as characterising Armitage's approach: describing the act of skimming stones on a lake, it admires his use of
254:) containing 30 fourteen-line poems or sonnets. Each is meant to be read within the time it would take for a match to be lit and burn out, as Armitage states in the first poem, "My party piece:"
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who was, like
Armitage, born in Marsden. She describes it as "a raging indictment with a grim conclusion".
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when he was elected to the four-year part-time appointment from 2015 to 2019. He was born and raised in
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The
Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain and Ireland
643:"Skimming Stones: Book of matches by Simon Armitage (Faber. ยฃ5.99)"
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is an
English poet, playwright and novelist. He was appointed as
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Walking Home: Travels with a
Troubadour on the Pennine Way
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486:"Simon Armitage wins Oxford professor of poetry election"
514:"Biography ยป Simon Armitage โ The Official Website"
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McGuiness, Daniel (Winter 1995). "Book of
Matches".
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Keep low. Follow through but leave the trailing arm
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conjures up its light, to when the brightness moves
259:I strike, then from the moment when the matchstick
250:The book is written in three sections, the first (
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389:The Routledge History of Literature in English
214:. At the start of his career, and at the time
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352:and lend that stone a certain r.p.m. of spin
263:beyond its means, and dies, I say the story
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202:in 2019. He is professor of poetry at the
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16:Collection of poems by Simon Armitage
242:in 1993. They reprinted it in 2001.
691:Barker, Elspeth (7 November 1993).
424:The Lost Letter of the Late Jud Fry
218:was published, he was working as a
200:Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
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387:Ronald Carter, writing in 2001 in
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783:"Simon Armitage - study guide"
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484:Flood, Alison (19 June 2015).
238:was published in paperback by
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751:"Three Poems: Simon Armitage"
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183:, first published in 1993 by
420:On the Trail of the Old Ways
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212:Marsden, West Yorkshire
756:London Review of Books
655:(1โ6): 131โ132. 1994.
433:The poet and novelist
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814:(20 September 1997).
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231:Publication history
204:University of Leeds
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763:(14). 22 July 1993
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394:The Antioch Review
370:Elspeth Barker in
288:for the return of
286:the wife who waits
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311:Reading the Banns
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319:W. H. Auden
309:The third,
206:and became
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437:described
435:Ruth Padel
378:To Poverty
977:Queenhood
727:Routledge
334:welcomed
325:Reception
303:Oklahoma!
98:Paperback
67:Publisher
872:29509405
848:(1993).
601:(2001).
494:. London
463:BBC News
416:Penelope
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