Local lad and Oxford professor of poetry Simon Armitage will be reading at Marsden library on Friday 4 November as part of the library’s Local Writers Reading series. Friends of Marsden Library, formed a year ago, is a community organisation dedicated to keeping open Marsden library at the village’s Mechanics Institute with the help of volunteers.

Simon Armitage grew up in Marsden and one of his Stanza Stones poems is carved on a rock at nearby Pule Hill. He will be reading a selection of his work, including Still, inspired by photographs from the battle of the Somme. More details

PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS CLOSE 

Background: 'Giving something back to the landscape'