Tiffany Atkinson (born 1972) is a British academic and award-winning poet. In 1993, she moved to Wales, where after completing her studies in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, she became a lecturer in English and Creative Writing at

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

. In 2014, she was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

. She was the recipient of the Roland Mathias Poetry Award.

Biography

Born in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

, Germany, to an army family, Atkinson was brought up in Germany and Britain. After graduating in English at

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

in 1993, she moved to Wales, where she gained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in critical theory from Cardiff University. Atkinson then conducted workshops and academic seminars in eastern Europe for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

. In both 1993 and 1994, she won the BBC Radio's Young Poet of the Year contest. She became Senior Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University, while undertaking research into theories of the body and the history of anatomy, contemporary literature and poetry. She remained in

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

until 2014, when she moved to the University of East Anglia as Professor of Creative Writing.

Poetry and writing

Atkinson has published three poetry collections: ''Kink and Particle'' (2006), ''Catulla et al'' (2011), and ''So Many Moving Parts'' (2014). ''Kink and Particle'' looks back on a thirty-year-old's memories of childhood and adolescence, and glimpses the future. The book gained positive reviews, won the Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize and became a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. ''Catulla et al'' is a modern rendering of the poetry of

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

. Writing in ''The Guardian'', Patrict McGuinness welcomes the collection as being "in the finest tradition of creative adaptation: keeping the originals as ballast, but unafraid to sail off on their own tangents." ''So Many Moving Parts'', depicting the awkward relationship of body and spirit and their sometimes surprising practical effects, won the Roland Mathias Poetry Award in 2015. Furthermore, Atkinson has written prose works and edited a collection of essays entitled ''The Body'' (2003).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Tiffany 1972 births Living people Writers from Berlin Academics from Berlin 21st-century British poets Alumni of Cardiff University Academics of Aberystwyth University Academics of the University of East Anglia