Kid (poetry collection)

Kid is the second collection of poems by Simon Armitage, published in 1992. The book won a Forward Prize for Poetry.

Kid
book cover
Cover of first edition
AuthorSimon Armitage
GenrePoetry
PublisherFaber and Faber
Publication date
1992
Media typePaperback
AwardsForward Prize for Poetry
ISBN978-0571166077
OCLC919570527
Preceded byZoom! 
Followed byBook of Matches 
Websitehttps://www.simonarmitage.com/kid/

Author

Simon Armitage is an English poet, playwright and novelist. He was appointed as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in 2019.[1] He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds and became Oxford Professor of Poetry when he was elected to the four-year part-time appointment from 2015 to 2019. He was born and raised in Marsden, West Yorkshire.[2][3] At the start of his career, and at the time Kid was published, he was working as a probation officer.[4]

Book

Publication history

Kid, Armitage's second book of poetry,[5] was his first to be published by Faber and Faber, in 1992.[6][7]

Contents

The 48 poems in the collection, structured as a single list, include:

  • "Kid" – the title poem, this is spoken by Batman's companion Robin.[6]
  • "Brassneck" – the story of two thieves attempting to steal from a crowd at a football game.[8]
  • "At Sea"[8]
  • "Robinson's Resignation" – the story of a businessman.[8]
  • "Great Sporting Moments: The Treble" – an exploration of class conflict.[8]

Reception

The collection was described by the poet and novelist Ruth Padel as being "Very Yorkshire; very Simon Armitage".[6] She wrote that the book "consolidated his name for technical virtuosity [and] black humour",[6] the voice having "a self-deprecatingly cocky self-centredness."[6] In her view, the first poem, "Brassneck", about a murderer, had "brilliant rhyme";[6] but she noted that some, especially poets, "found it less convincing than Zoom!."[6]

The book won a Forward Prize for Poetry in the "best first collection" category in 1992, the first year in which the prizes were awarded.[9]

References
  1. "Simon Armitage: 'Witty and profound' writer to be next Poet Laureate". BBC News. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  2. Flood, Alison (19 June 2015). "Simon Armitage wins Oxford professor of poetry election". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. "Biography » Simon Armitage – The Official Website". www.simonarmitage.com. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  4. McGuiness, Daniel (Winter 1995). "Book of Matches". The Antioch Review. 53 (1): 120. doi:10.2307/4613107. JSTOR 4613107.
  5. Armitage, Simon (7 March 2020). "Magnetic fields: Simon Armitage on the pull of Marsden". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  6. Padel, Ruth (20 September 1997). "Heaven can wait". The Independent. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  7. Armitage 1992, p. iv.
  8. Wilkinson, Ben (7 November 2014). "Paper Aeroplane: Selected Poems 1989–2014 by Simon Armitage review – 'What surprises is how urgent and contemporary his early poems still read'". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  9. "Forward Prize Alumni". Forward Arts Foundation. Retrieved 24 February 2022.

Bibliography
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