Alasdair Talbert Paterson is a Scottish poet and retired academic librarian. He won an

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by United Kingdom poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. Past winne ...

for poetry in 1975 and published several collections before taking a twenty-year break from publication. In his career as a librarian he worked in the universities of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, and he held the post of University Librarian at

Exeter University The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School o ...

. In his last year at Exeter he was also Acting Director of Computing Services. After retirement he resumed publishing with ''On the governing of empires'' in 2010. Paterson was born in Edinburgh, and studied at the universities of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

. He has travelled extensively and was involved in several academic projects in Eastern Europe during his career, co-ordinating the E-URALS and KNOWLEDGE projects for

TEMPUS The TEMPUS (Trans-European Mobility Programme for University Studies) is a program that encouraged higher education institutions in the EU Member States and partner countries to engage in structured cooperation through the establishment of "c ...

in the early 2000s and co-presenting a 2004 seminar series on ''Innovations in European academic libraries: Issues and contexts'' in Warsaw. ''A colleague's webpage'' He now lives in Exeter.

Selected publications

*''My my my life'' (2021, Shearsman, *''Silent years'' (2017, Flarestack Poets, *''Elsewhere or Thereabouts'' (2014, Shearsman, ) *''In arcadia'' (2011, Oystercatcher Press, ) *''Brumaire and Later '' (2010, Flarestack Poets, ) *''On the governing of empires'' (2010, Shearsman, ) *''Brief Lives'' (1987, Oasis Books, ) *' (1985, Windows Project, ) *''The Floating World: Selected Poems, 1973-82'' (1984, Pig Press, ) *''Topiary'' (1982, Pig Press, ) *''Alps'' (1981, Oasis Books, ) *''Terra Nova'' (1979, Interim Press, ) *''Poems for Douanier Rousseau'' (1975, Glasshouse Press)

References

External links

* ''A selection of poems'' Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Scottish librarians Scottish poets Alumni of the University of Edinburgh {{Scotland-poet-stub