Nancy Campbell is a British poet, non-fiction writer and publisher of

artist's books Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...

. Her first collection of poetry, ''Disko Bay'' (2015), was shortlisted for the

Forward 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 ...

for Best First Collection. Other works include a book of prose poems
Uneasy Pieces
' (2022), and non-fiction books ''Thunderstone'' (2022),''The Library of Ice'' (2018) and ''Fifty Words for Snow'' (2020). She served as the UK’s Canal Laureate (2018-19) appointed by the

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

and the

Canal & River Trust The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the ...

. In 2021 she received the Royal Geographical Society Ness Award for environmental writing.

Early life and education

Campbell was born in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

and grew up in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. She studied English Literature at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 1996-9 before training in

letterpress printing Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing for producing many copies by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against individual sheets of paper or a continuous roll of paper. A worker composes and locks movable t ...

and

typefounding Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation ...

Barbarian Press Barbarian Press is a fine press publisher, owned and operated by Jan Elsted and Crispin Elsted in Mission, B.C., Canada. In 1977, the Elsteds were working toward their PhD's in English literature at the University of London when they met Graham ...

, and The New York

Center for Book Arts Center for Book Arts (CBA) is a non-profit arts organization, founded in 1974. It is the first organization of its kind in the United States dedicated to contemporary interpretations of the book as an art object while preserving traditional prac ...

. She subsequently worked for

Book Works Book Works is a London-based publisher of books on contemporary visual arts, and print studio specialising in bookbinding, letterpress printing, boxmaking, and printmaking. Established in 1984, it has "the mission to disseminate visual art practice ...

in London, and specialised in selling fine printing and writers' archives at the antiquarian book dealer Bertram Rota in Covent Garden.

Residencies and fellowships

Campbell was appointed writer-in-residence at

Upernavik Museum Upernavik Museum is a museum in Upernavik, a town in northwestern Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

in the winter of2009-10. Subsequent residencies in the Arctic and northern Europe, listed below, enabled her to develop her ideas on climate and culture. Academic fellowships include a semester as

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

of literature at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

, Germany, Germany, and the Otis Fellowship in Environmental Studies at

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, US, both in 2023.

Positions Held

* 2010

: Writer in Residence * 2012 Doverodde Book Arts Festival, Denmark: Writer in Residence * 2012 Síldarminjasafn ( Herring Era Museum),

Siglufjörður Siglufjörður () is a small fishing town in a narrow fjord with the same name on the northern coast of Iceland. The population in 2011 was 1,206; the town has been shrinking in size since the 1950s when the town reached its peak of 3,000 inhabit ...

, Iceland: Writer in Residence * 2013 Words Across Northumberland, UK: Writer in Residence * 2013-14

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formally known under ...

: Visual and Performing Artist in Residence * 2015 Herhusið, Iceland: Writer in Residence * 2015 Ilulissat Kunstmuseum, Greenland: Writer in Residence * 2017 Jan Michalski Foundation for Writing and Literature, Switzerland: Environmental Writing Fellowship * 2018-2019 Internationales Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia,

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

, Germany: Literature Fellowship * 2022

Hawthornden Castle Hawthornden Castle is located on the River North Esk in Midlothian, Scotland. The castle lies a mile to the east of Roslin at grid reference , and is just downstream from Roslin Castle. Hawthornden comprises a 15th-century ruin, with a 17th-c ...

, Scotland: Fellowship * 2023 Peter Szondi Institute,

, Germany: Visiting Professor

Other activities

In 2025, Campbell is one of three judges for the Creative Future Writers' Award.

Published works

* ''How to Say 'I Love You' in Greenlandic'', Bird Editions, 2011 * ''Doverrode: Twenty Days in Denmark'', Bird Editions, 2012 * ''ITOQQIPPOQ'', Bird Editions, 2014 * ''Vantar , Missing'', Bird Editions, 2014, * ''Disko Bay'', Enitharmon Editions, 2015, - shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. * ''Death of a Foster Son'', Bird Editions, 2016, * ''The Polar Tombola: A Book of Banished Words'', Bird Editions, 2017, * ''The Library of Ice: Readings from a Cold Climate'',

Simon and Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, 2018, - longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. * ''Navigations'', Happenstance Press, 2020, * ''Fifty Words for Snow'', Elliott & Thompson Ltd, 2020, ISBN 978-1783964987 * ''Uneasy Pieces'', Guillemot Press, 2022, * ''Thunderstone: Finding Shelter from the Storm'', Elliott & Thompson Ltd, 2022,

Art Writing

* ''Bill Jacklin: Graphics'', co-authored with Jill Lloyd, Royal Academy Publications, 2016, ISBN 9781910350409

Collaborations and artist's editions

* ''Dinner and a Rose: a homage to Patricia Highsmith'' - with Sarah Bodman, Bristol * ''Songbook of Rare Feelings: courage, humility, remorse'' - with Ensemble VONK, The Netherlands * ''Tikilluarit'' - with Roni Gross and Peter Schell, Z'roah Press, New York City * ''The Night Hunter'' - with Roni Gross and Peter Schell, Z'roah Press, New York City * ''Song for the Small Hours -'' Incline Press, Oldham, 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Nancy 1978 births Living people 21st-century British poets British women poets