Jean Sprackland (born 1962) is an English poet and writer, the author of five collections of poetry and two books of essays about place and nature.
Biography
Originally from
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...
, Jean Sprackland studied English and Philosophy at the
University of Kent at Canterbury
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
, then taught for a few years before beginning to write poetry at age 30. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was Chair of the Poetry Archive from 2016 to 2020.
Published works
*''Tattoos for Mothers Day'' (Spike, 1997)
*''Hard Water'' (Cape, 2003)
*''Ellipsis: Vol. I'' (with
Sean O'Brien and Tim Cooke; Comma Press, 2005)
*''Our Thoughts are Bees: Working with Writers and Schools'' (with Mandy Coe; Wordplay Press, 2005)
*''Tilt'' (Cape, 2007)
*''Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach'' (Cape, 2012)
*''Sleeping Keys'' (Random House, 2013)
*''Green Noise'' (Cape, 2018)
*''These Silent Mansions: A life in graveyards'' (2020)
Translated works
*''Inclinación''. Spanish translation of ''Tilt'' (Komorebi Ediciones, Chile, 2018)
Awards and honours
*1998:
Forward Poetry Prize
The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...
(Best First Collection) shortlist, ''Tattoos for Mothers Day''
*2003:
T. S. Eliot Prize
The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize for poetry awarded by the T. S. Eliot Foundation. For many years it was awarded by the Eliots' Poetry Book Society (UK) for "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or t ...
shortlist, ''Hard Water''
*2003:
Whitbread Poetry Award
The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...
shortlist, ''Hard Water''
*2004:
Next Generation poet
*2007:
Costa Poetry Award, ''Tilt''
*2007: Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem) shortlist, "The Birkdale Nightingale"
*2012:
Portico Prize for Literature (Non-fiction), ''Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach''
*2021:
PEN Ackerley Prize shortlist, ''These Silent Mansions: A life in graveyards''
*2021: Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...
References
External links
Jean SpracklandThe Poetry Archive - Jean SpracklandRandom House - Jean Sprackland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprackland, Jean
1962 births
Living people
English poets
English women poets
Costa Book Award winners
Alumni of the University of Kent
Academics of Manchester Metropolitan University
People from Burton upon Trent
British children's poets
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Writers from Staffordshire