Simon Armitage: Poets can fight climate crisis by making us spellbound by nature

Writer tells Hay festival about his new book, Blossomise, and his hopes to inspire people to preserve the natural world

Poets can help fight climate breakdown by making us spellbound, full of wonder and beguiled" by nature, the poet laureate has said.

Simon Armitage, who pledged to dedicate his writing and thinking to environmental issues when he was appointed poet laureate in 2019, has written a new book of poems called Blossomise, which he hopes will remind readers of the beauty of nature.