Dwell

Description

Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate, was inspired to write these poems by the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, an ambitious restoration project where history and mystery coexist. The reawakened landscape with its meadows and ‘jungle’ offers a bustling realm for all sorts of creatures to inhabit. Armitage uses elements of riddle and folklore to animate a series of dwellings. Distinctions between human and animal, cultivated and natural, are blurred, emphasising commonality and creating a vibrant account of ‘non-stop stop-motion life’.

Dwell warns of the fragility of these spaces as they are exposed to relentless environmental threats. Just as a garden provides refuge for wildlife, so do these intricate poems offer lasting homes to those who dwell within their lines.