Zoological Society of London commissions poet laureate for animation to mark its 200th anniversary
Over its two centuries, acclaimed writers and artists have found inspiration at London zoo, from Edwin Landseer’s Trafalgar Square lions, to AA Milne’s naming “Winnie” after resident bear Winnipeg, and Sylvia Plath’s poem Zoo Keeper’s Wife.
Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes, who would become poet laureate, worked at the zoo briefly as a dish washer, an experience said to have helped fuel his inspiration for The Thought-Fox.
As the ZSL (Zoological Society of London) celebrates its 200th anniversary, the current poet laureate, Simon Armitage, now joins their ranks with his latest work, The Moon and the Zoo, published to mark this milestone in the international conservation charity’s history.
Armitage narrates the poem, which conjures up the night-time world at the zoo, in a specially commissioned animation illustrated by Greg King, which carries the words through a dreamlike journey from the zoo out into the wider natural world.
