Simon Armitage and Friends

Simon Armitage is the British Poet Laureate as well as a broadcaster, playwright, novelist and the author of three best-selling volumes of non-fiction. He has published over 20 collections of poetry from his first, Zoom, in 1987 to his most recent, Magnetic Field: The Marsden Poems in 2020. After translating late 14th century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to front-page reviews across two continents, his translation of Pearl (another Medieval English poem thought to be of the same anonymous author responsible for Gawain) won the 2017 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. Armitage writes and records with the band LYR and is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds.

Julia Cimafiejeva (Юля Цімафеева) is a Belarusian writer and translator living in exile. She is the author of four poetry collections in Belarusian and a documentary book Minsk Diary. Her new book is Motherfield: Poems & Belarusian Protest Diary.

Sarah Ferguson is the presenter of the ABC’s 7.30. She has won four Walkleys, including the Gold Walkley in 2011, the Melbourne Press Club Gold Quill Award, four Logies for most outstanding public affairs report, the George Munster Award for Independent Journalism and the Queensland Premier's Literary Award. She is the author of The Killing Season and On Mother. 

Max Gillies is a political satirist and Simon Armitage aficionado. His eight stage revues toured nationally, beginning with Squirts at the Dunstan Playhouse in 1981 and finally with Once Were Leaders which played at the same venue in 2017. The Gillies Report appeared on ABC TV. 

Sarah Holland-Batt is an award-winning poet, editor and critic, and a Professor of Creative Writing at QUT. She is the author of three poetry collections: Aria, the recipient of several national literary awards, The Hazards, winner of the 2016 Prime Minister’s Literary Award, and The Jaguar. She is also the author of Fishing for Lightning, a collection of her columns about reading poetry. 

Shaun Micallef is an Australian comedian, writer, actor, producer and author. After a decade of practising law, Micallef threw it all away for a life in comedy. Since 1994 he has graced Australian TV screens in shows such as Full Frontal and Sea Change, Thank God You’re Here and Talkin’ Bout Your Generation and his own shows - the Micallef P(r)ogram(me), Micallef Tonight, Newstopia and Mad as Hell for the last fourteen seasons. He has received Logies, AFIs, AACTAs and an Aria. He’s also written six books, including his recent memoir Tripping Over Myself.