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John Burnside

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John Burnside

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1955-03-19 （Dunfermline, Scotland）
Died
2024-05-29 age 69
Nationality
Scottish, British
Languages
English
Residence History
Dunfermline → Cowdenbeath → Corby

Career

Occupations
Writer, Poet, Novelist, Essayist, Creative writing teacher
Active Years
1988-2024
Affiliations
University of Dundee (Writer in Residence), University of St Andrews (Professor of Creative Writing), Royal Society of Literature (Fellow), Royal Society of Edinburgh (Fellow)
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature (Fellow), Royal Society of Edinburgh (Fellow)
Influenced By
Nature and deep ecology, Wallace Stevens, American poetry (20th-century poets)
Influenced
Contemporary Scottish poets, Writers and critics of nature poetry

Education

Cambridge College of Arts and Technology
English and European Thought and Literature / Department of English and European Literature
Country: United Kingdom
Studied English and European Thought and Literature.

Awards

Scottish Arts Council Book Award
1988
Work: The Hoop
Organization: Scottish Arts Council
Result: winner
Scottish Arts Council Book Award
1991
Work: Common Knowledge
Organization: Scottish Arts Council
Result: winner
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
1994
Work: Feast Days
Organization: Geoffrey Faber Memorial
Result: winner
Encore Award
1999
Work: The Mercy Boys
Organization: Royal Society of Literature
Result: winner
Whitbread (now Costa) Book Award (Poetry)
2000
Work: The Asylum Dance
Category: Poetry
Organization: Whitbread / Costa
Result: winner
Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year
2006
Work: A Lie About My Father
Category: Non-fiction
Organization: Saltire Society
Result: winner
Cholmondeley Award
2008
Organization: Society of Authors
Result: winner
Petrarca-Preis
2011
Organization: Petrarca-Preis
Result: winner
Forward Prize
2011
Work: Black Cat Bone
Category: Poetry (Best Collection)
Organization: Forward Arts Foundation
Result: winner
T. S. Eliot Prize
2011
Work: Black Cat Bone
Organization: T. S. Eliot Prize
Result: winner
Corine Literature Prize
2011
Work: A Lie About My Father
Organization: Corine (Germany)
Result: winner
Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets
2022
Work: Apostasy
Organization: Michael Marks Awards
Result: winner
David Cohen Prize
2023
Category: Lifetime achievement
Organization: David Cohen Prize
Result: winner
Forward Poetry Prize (shortlist)
2000
Work: The Asylum Dance
Category: Best Collection (shortlist)
Organization: Forward Arts Foundation
Result: shortlist
T. S. Eliot Prize (shortlist)
2000
Work: The Asylum Dance
Category: shortlist
Organization: T. S. Eliot Prize
Result: shortlist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Black Cat Bone

2011 Poetry collection

A collection of poems exploring nature, death and memory, praised for its strong imagery and formal control.

naturedeathmemorytransformation

A Lie About My Father

2006 Memoir / Non-fiction

A memoir examining a fraught relationship with his father, combining personal confession with literary reflection.

familymemorytrauma

The Asylum Dance

2000 Poetry collection

A poetry collection dealing with the power of language and personal/social madness; a critically noted work.

languagemadnessinner worlds

The Dumb House

1997 Novel

A novel about family and memory, noted for its dark and poetic style.

familymemorytrauma

Coldhaven (radio play)

2017 Radio play / Audio drama

A radio-play adaptation of Burnside's work, noted for its translation, composition and direction.

urbanmemoryabsence
Adaptations
  • [Radio play] Coldhaven / Klaus Buhlert (2017)

Bibliography

  • The Hoop (1988)
  • Common Knowledge (1991)
  • Feast Days (1992)
  • The Dumb House (1997)
  • The Asylum Dance (2000)
  • A Lie About My Father (2006)
  • Black Cat Bone (2011)
  • Apostasy (2022)

Adaptations

  • Coldhaven (radio play — translation/composition/directing by Klaus Buhlert)
  • Dice (TV mini-series, co-written with A. L. Kennedy)

Translations of Works

  • Apostasy / Apostasie (German translation, Golden Luft, 2023)
  • In the Name of the Bee / Im Namen der Biene (bilingual German/English, 2018)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Poetic prose and poetry rich in natural descriptionLyrical and metaphysical imageryDense imagery with formal precision
Recurring Motifs
naturememoryfamily and father-son relationshipsanimalslandscape and loss

Legacy

John Burnside influenced contemporary Scottish poetry through his deep engagement with nature and explorations of memory. He received numerous major awards and was highly regarded in both poetry and prose.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature
  • Royal Society of Edinburgh

Archives

  • Scottish Poetry Library (holdings and audio recordings)
  • Publisher archives (Jonathan Cape, etc.)

In Popular Culture

  • Audio adaptation (Coldhaven) awarded and publicised on radio

Quotes

  • To read him was to feel a lighting up of the darkness.
    Source: Jonathan Cape (publisher) — tribute (2024)

Trivia

  • He formerly worked as a computer software engineer.
  • In 2011 he was one of the few poets to win both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize for the same book (Black Cat Bone).
  • Born in Scotland, he influenced poetry across the English-speaking world.