British poet Simon Armitage said art is creation out of rudiments. ‘Black ink on a white page,’ he said. ‘If you put the 26 letters in the right order, incredible things can happen.’ Armitage read poetry from his latest works and shared his thoughts on various forms of creative expression Monday at the Photonics Center to an audience of 30 people. Armitage, who has written ‘Out of the Blue: Order from Chaos,’ ‘The Not Dead’ and a translation of the Middle English ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,’ among others, is the latest author to speak in the ongoing series ‘Eurospective Fall 2009: Conversations with European Artists and Writers,’ hosted by the Institute for Human Sciences at Boston University. Boston Globe Living Arts reporter Mark Feeney moderated the event. In addition to poetry, Armitage also works on documentaries, including his film project ‘The Not Dead’ about returning war veterans. Armitage said he listened to veterans’ testimonies and wrote poems based on them, which the veterans read aloud on camera. Armitage said he hoped his audience would learn better from the poetic voices in the film than from hearing the original testimonies. ‘I think the formality of the poetry writing is in contrast to the informality of the dialogue,’ he said. ‘I never meet the people in the films because I’m worried I will lose the necessary detachment.’ College of General Studies freshman Kristen Visakay said she appreciated Armitage’s respect for serious topics such as 9/11. ‘I also found it interesting that he does film and doesn’t meet the people because he might get too attached,’ she said. ‘It’s interesting how other people create good art.’ Armitage said television can be constricting, but it tests him. He said the limitations can be a creative force. ‘Those constraints can take voice in different directions and awaken ideas and styles that you didn’t know you were ever capable of,’ he said. ‘[It’s] a part of staying alert and being open to the possibility of change.’ Feeney asked Armitage about the differences and similarities in lyric composition and poetry writing. ‘I have a huge admiration for people who can combine language and music,’ he said. ‘It is very different from writing as a poet. Song lyrics are not poems.’ Armitage also drew a distinction between American and British poetry. In the United States, he said, ‘poetry imploded into the universities.’ ‘In the States, poetry is campus-based,’ he said. ‘A lot of poets are housed in universities where they are respected and looked after. In the UK, [I have a] general feeling modernism didn’t quite catch on. I think in the UK, poets like myself tend to write for the common reader.’ College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Colin Fraher said his interest in the event came from Armitage’s translation of ‘Sir Gawain.’ ‘I’m planning to pursue a career in playwriting,’ he said. ‘I found it was interesting learning about which poets influenced him and the differences between British and American poetry.’ CAS junior Edyna Tapia said the reading made her a little more interested in poetry. ‘When he read, it gave me a different look,’ she said. ‘I’ll pick up a book and see if [poetry] will interest me again.’