Colin Simms

Simms was appointed Keeper of Biology at the Yorkshire Museum in 1964.^[2] He held this position until 1982.^[3]

Simms has produced several collections, and more than forty pamphlets, of poetry, inspired by wildlife and the natural world.^[4] These varied works were collected into a series of publications, organised by the subject, by Shearsman Books. The first publication was Otters and Martens in 2004, followed by The American Poems (2005), Gyrfalcon Poems (2007), Poems from Afghanistan (2013), and Hen Harrier Poems.^[1]

In a 2015 Guardian review of Hen Harrier Poems, Simms' poetry of the last half-century was described as of "huge importance, thrilling for the rigour and commitment of its vision".^[1] He won 3rd prize in the inaugural Laurel Prize for environmental poetry in 2020, for Hen Harrier.^[5][6] His work, in a discussion of great Yorkshire poets, has also been described as "not as well known as it should be".^[7]

• 1968. "A List of Botanical and Zoological Collections at the Yorkshire Museum, York, The Naturalist 904 (April–June 1968), 85-89.
• 1970. Lives of British Lizards, Norwich, Goose and Son.
• 1973. Birches and Other Striplings, Sheffield, Headland Poetry.
• 1973. Modesty (Swaledale Summer), Sheffield, Headland Poetry.
• 1974. Horcum and other gods, New Maldon, Headland Poetry.
• 1976. No Northwestern Passage: a long-poem, London, Writers Forum.
• 1977. Parfleche, Swansea, Galloping Dog Press.
• 1977. On Osgodby Cliffs (Poems for Cleveland), Harrogate, The Curlew Press.
• 1980. Missouri River Songs '75-'77, York, Genera.
• 1980. Movement, Durham, Pig Press.
• 1981. A Celebration of the Stones in a Water-course, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Galloping Dog Press.
• 1987. Eyes Own Ideas, Durham, Pig Press.
• 2004. Otters and Martens, Bristol, Shearsman Books.
• 2005. The American Poems, Bristol, Shearsman Books.
• 2007. Gyrfalcon Poems. Bristol, Shearsman Books.
• 2013. Poems from Afghanistan, Bristol, Shearsman Books.
• 2015. Hen Harrier Poems. Bristol, Shearsman Books.