As the tenth anniversary of Sophie Lancaster’s death approaches, Simon Armitage’s Black Roses has been brought back into print.

The book has been sold out for several years, but further copies are now being released.  A third of the profits will go to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, which aims to ‘create a lasting legacy to Sophie’.

Black Roses is a poetic sequence written in the voice of Sophie Lancaster.  The radio broadcast of Black Roses won the BBC Radio Best Speech Programme of 2011 and was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award for Poetry.

What is the Sophie Lancaster Foundation?

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation focuses on creating respect and understanding for subcultures in communities.  The charity works with the police and politicians to ensure protection for people from Alternative Subcultures.

Sophie Lancaster was attacked on 24 August 2007 in Stubbeylee Park, Bacup with her partner Rob.  She died 13 days later.  The ferocity of the assault caused distress and outrage when reported by the international media and led to the creation of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, a charity opposed to all forms of hate crime and victimisation.