Background
Simpson was born in Bootle, Merseyside, to a working-class family with a long seafaring tradition, and educated at Bootle Grammar School.
Simpson was born in Bootle, Merseyside, to a working-class family with a long seafaring tradition, and educated at Bootle Grammar School.
He published six full poetry collections, and after retiring from a senior lectureship in English at Liverpool Hope University, wrote numerous books of literary criticism until his death. In 1964 he returned to Liverpool. During 1994 he was poet-in-residence for six months in Tasmania, and in 1996 a festschrift edited by Angela Topping was put together to celebrate his 60th birthday with contributors such as U.A. Fanthorpe, Deryn Rees-Jones, Roger McGough, Adrian Henri and John Lucas.
He was also a noted children"s poet, publishing two collections and appearing in hundreds of anthologies.
Simpson died in Merseyside in June 2009, of complications following a heart bypass.