The poet laureate Simon Armitage is working with his long-time collaborator, the award-winning British filmmaker Brian Hill, on a documentary about the pandemic, an article in the Observer reveals.

Their film, with the working title Where Did The World Go? is still in production, and examines life and loss in lockdown. It includes a new poem from Armitage, who said: “It has become a little bit of a ‘shepherd’s calendar’, marking the passing seasons. We have gone through phases of lockdown.”

He added: “At first, people associated it with the weather and being outside, so although there were restrictions, there were also compensations. I probably started to feel it most keenly recently, as it got darker and colder and the days got shorter.”

Both Hill and Armitage say they had no idea how long the film project would last. “We thought we might finish this summer,” said Armitage. “But then, like anyone else, we also were aware it might go on into next year. It now it feels like this project will last a year and a bit. I am feeling more optimistic now, particularly as my parents have been invited to have a vaccine.”

One section of the film features the challenges faced by members of the prestigious Huddersfield Choral Society, who were also the subject of a separate project, We’ll Sing, with Armitage last month. Not only has this choir had to contend with restrictions on public singing, but it has also suffered the loss of two members to the virus.

Armitage said his writing so far has been largely prompted by news coverage, and he has felt the need to regain balance by drawing away at times and reading about other things. “A book can give perspective by showing this is not the worst that has happened.” But he does not feel any pressure to raise national morale by painting a rosy picture: “I’m no cheerleader. I haven’t got the pom-poms. But I do think people find resilience from emotional truth.”