Kathleen Jamie FRSL (born 13 May 1962) is a Scottish poet and essayist. In 2021 she became Scotland's fourth

Makar A makar () is a term from Scottish literature for a poet or bard, often thought of as a royal court poet. Since the 19th century, the term ''The Makars'' has been specifically used to refer to a number of poets of fifteenth and sixteenth cen ...

Life and work

Kathleen Jamie is a poet and essayist. Raised in

Currie Currie is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. It is situated be ...

, near Edinburgh, she studied philosophy at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, 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. left, 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. It won the 2012 Costa poetry award. 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 The John Burroughs Medal, named for nature writer John Burroughs (1837–1921), is awarded each year in April by the John Burroughs Association to the author of a book that the association has judged to be distinguished in the field of natural hist ...

and the Orion Book Award. Jamie writes occasional essays and reviews for the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. 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. Since 1998, Jamie's literary archive has been held at the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

. In 2009 Jamie was elected as a 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 ...

, and in 2018 elected as a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

. In August 2021 Jamie was appointed as the fourth holder of the title of Scots

Awards

* 1981 Eric Gregory Award * 1995

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

for ''The Queen of Sheba'' * 2000

Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman of the publisher Faber & Faber. It recognises a single volume of poetry or fiction by a United Kingdom, Iri ...

for ''Jizzen'' * 2001

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

Creative Scotland Award * 2003

Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is a Canadian poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, two separate awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. I ...

(Canada) (shortlist) for ''Mr. and Mrs. Scotland are Dead: Poems 1980–1994'' * 2004 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) for ''The Tree House'' * 2005

Book of the Year Award for ''The Tree House'' * 2012 Costa Prize Poetry Award for ''The Overhaul'' * 2014

for ''Sightlines'' * 2014 Orion Book Award for ''Sightlines'' * 2016 Saltire Society book of the year award for ''The Bonniest Companie'' * 2017

Ness Award The Ness Award is an annual award of the Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the Unite ...

"for outstanding creative writing at the confluence of travel, nature and culture"

Honours

* 2009 elected a Fellow of the

* 2018 elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

* 2021 appointed as Scots

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

) * ''The tree house'' (2004) (winner of the Forward Poetry Prize) and Scottish Book of the Year Award. * ''Findings'' (2005), essays * ''This weird estate'' (2007) * ''Sightlines'' (2012), essays * ''The Overhaul'' (2012) * ''The Bonniest Companie'' (2015) * ''Selected Poems'' (2018) * ''Surfacing'' (2019), essays *Contributor to ''A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue Between East and West,'' Gingko Library, 2019. *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. * ''Cairn'' (2024), essays and poems

References

External links

Griffin Poetry Prize biography

Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip

Anatomy of a natural poet by Sarah Jones in Scotsman.com

Poetry Archive profile, including audio clips
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamie, Kathleen 1962 births Living people Writers from Edinburgh Scottish women poets Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish scholars and academics Academics of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Costa Book Award winners Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish women writers