Kathleen Jamie

Kathleen Jamie FRSL FRSE (born 13 May 1962) is a Scottish poet and essayist.[1][2] In 2021 she became Scotland's fourth Makar.[3]

Kathleen Jamie
Kathleen Jamie
Makar
Assumed office
18 August 2021
Preceded byJackie Kay
Personal details
Born (1962-05-13) 13 May 1962
Scotland
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
OccupationPoet, essayist
AwardsForward Poetry Prize
Scottish Book of the Year
Eric Gregory Award

Life and work

Kathleen Jamie is a poet and essayist. Raised in Currie, near Edinburgh, she studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, publishing her first poems as an undergraduate. Her writing is rooted in Scottish landscape and culture, and ranges through travel, women's issues, archaeology and visual art. She writes in English and occasionally in Scots.[1][4]

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Jamie in 2021

Jamie's collections include The Queen of Sheba (1995). Her 2004 collection The Tree House revealed an increasing interest in the natural world. This book won the Forward Poetry Prize and the Scottish Book of the Year Award. The Overhaul was published in September 2012.[1] It won the 2012 Costa poetry award.[5] For the last decade Jamie has also written non-fiction. Her collections of essays Findings and Sightlines are considered influential works of nature and landscape writing. On publication in the United States, the latter won the John Burroughs Medal and the Orion Book Award.[1] Jamie writes occasional essays and reviews for the London Review of Books and The Guardian.

A poem by Jamie is inscribed on the national monument at Bannockburn.

In 2014, Jamie set herself the task of writing one poem per week. The resulting poems were collected in The Bonniest Companie, released in 2015, winning 2016 Saltire Society book of the year award.[6][7]

In 2009 Jamie was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature,[8] and in 2018 elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[2]

In August 2021 Jamie was appointed as the fourth holder of the title of Scots Makar.[9]

Awards

Honours

Bibliography
  • Black Spiders 1982
  • A Flame in Your Heart (with Andrew Greig) 1986
  • The Way We Live 1987
  • The Golden Peak: Travels in North Pakistan 1992 (reissued as Among Muslims in 2002)
  • The Autonomous Region: Poems and Photographs from Tibet 1993
  • The Queen of Sheba 1994
  • Jizzen 1999
  • Mr & Mrs Scotland Are Dead (Poems 1980–94) 2002 (shortlisted for the 2003 International Griffin Poetry Prize)
  • The Treehouse 2004 (winner of the Forward Poetry Prize) and Scottish Book of the Year Award.
  • Findings 2005, essays
  • Sightlines 2012, essays
  • The Overhaul (September 2012)
  • The Bonniest Companie (2015)
  • Surfacing (2019), essays
  • Contributor to A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue Between East and West, Gingko Library, 2019. ISBN 9781909942288
  • Editor: Antlers of Water: Writing on the Nature and Environment of Scotland (2020)
  • Skeins o Geese (2023), 12 poems complemented by Woodcuts by Jo Sweeting. Published by Fine Press Poetry.

[15][16]

References
  1. Crown, Sarah (6 April 2012). "Kathleen Jamie: a life in writing". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  2. "Professor Kathleen Jamie". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  3. "New Scots Makar". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  4. "Kathleen Jamie". PoetryArchive.org. Archived from the original on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  5. "Hilary Mantel wins 2012 Costa novel prize". BBC News. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  6. Linklater, Magnus (25 November 2016). "The Bonniest Companie sweeps Saltire Society book awards". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  7. Taylor, Alan (31 October 2015). "Kathleen Jamie's new poetry collection". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  8. "Royal Society of Literature » Kathleen Jamie". rsliterature.org. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  9. "Kathleen Jamie announced as Scotland's new Makar". BBC News. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  10. "John Burroughs Association Awards". AMNH.org. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  11. OrionMagazine.org Archived 25 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "2016 Saltire Society Literary Awards". saltiresociety.org.uk. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  13. "2017 medals and awards". Royal Geographical Society. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  14. "Kathleen Jamie announced as Scotland's new Makar". BBC News. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  15. McDonald, Sally (8 September 2020). "A wild year: Writer on why lockdown has helped Scots enjoy the everyday wonders of nature". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  16. "Antlers of Water by Kathleen Jamie - Canongate Books". canongate.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
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