Armitage on the prowl

Poet-turned-rockstar-turned-back-to-dayjob Simon Armitage is having three launches - three - for his new book of poetry, The Not Dead, based on his work for Channel 4's Remembrance Day programme last year.

The launches are in a range of locations at a mixture of prices:

Tuesday 11 November
7pm, The Showroom, Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1
Tickets £5.50/£4 (cons) from The Showroom - Tel. 0114 275 7727

Wednesday 12 November
7.45pm, Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.
Tickets are £10. Box Office: 0871 663 2586

Thursday 13 November
6.30pm, Free to students and the public.
Geoffrey Manton Building, Manchester Metropolitan University, Rosamond Street West, Off Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6LL

Something to listen to: Joy and Saints

Radio 4 has been overflowing with things to use your ear/speaker combinations for.

First - available until Tuesday teatime - Robbie Williams and Jon Ronson's Radio 4 programme detailing their visit to a UFO conference. It's hard to dislike Williams in this, it has to be said. Although it might have been a better programme without his presence and his desperate "I want to believe" refrain, it was interesting to hear Williams' conviction that being shunned by all your friends because your mother has told everyone you're an Indigo Child is like being a multi-millionaire who can dictate the winner of the British Comedy Awards.

Also available until Tuesday is Great Lives, Simon Armitage enthusing over the late Ian Curtis. And up until Monday, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow sees Tracy McLeod exploring the Girl Groups of the 1960s.

Permanently, now: T Bone Burnett pops up on the Today programme.

Away from Radio 4, Planet Claire plays host to a St Vincent session. [via Largehearted Boy]