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Kathleen Jamie

キャサリン・ジェイミー

Kyaserin Jeimī

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1962-05-13 （Currie, near Edinburgh, Scotland）
Nationality
Scottish
Languages
English, Scots
Residence History
Currie, near Edinburgh, Scotland

Career

Occupations
poet, essayist
Active Years
1982-2024
Memberships
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL), Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE)
Nominations
Griffin Poetry Prize shortlist (2003, Mr. and Mrs. Scotland are Dead)

Education

University of Edinburgh
Philosophy
Period: undergraduate期
Country: United Kingdom
Publishing her first poems as an undergraduate.

Awards

Eric Gregory Award
1981
Result: winner
Somerset Maugham Award
1995
Work: The Queen of Sheba
Result: winner
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
2000
Work: Jizzen
Result: winner
Forward Poetry Prize
2004
Work: The Tree House
Category: Best Poetry Collection of the Year
Result: winner
Scottish Book of the Year
2005
Work: The Tree House
Result: winner
Costa Prize
2012
Work: The Overhaul
Category: Poetry
Result: winner
John Burroughs Medal
2014
Work: Sightlines
Result: winner
Orion Book Award
2014
Work: Sightlines
Result: winner
Saltire Society Book of the Year
2016
Work: The Bonniest Companie
Result: winner
Ness Award
2017
Result: winner
Highland Book Prize
2019
Work: Surfacing
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Tree House

2004 poetry

A collection of poems revealing an increasing interest in the natural world.

naturelandscape

Findings

2005 essays

Influential collection of essays on nature and landscape writing.

naturelandscape

The Overhaul

2012 poetry

Winner of the 2012 Costa Poetry Award.

nature

Sightlines

2012 essays

Won John Burroughs Medal and Orion Book Award in the US.

naturelandscape

The Bonniest Companie

2015 poetry

Winner of 2016 Saltire Society Book of the Year. Result of writing one poem per week.

Scotland

Surfacing

2019 essays

Winner of 2019 Highland Book Prize.

naturearchaeology

Bibliography

  • Black Spiders
  • A Flame in Your Heart
  • The Way We Live
  • The Golden Peak: Travels in North Pakistan
  • The Autonomous Region: Poems and Photographs from Tibet
  • The Queen of Sheba
  • Jizzen
  • Mr & Mrs Scotland Are Dead (Poems 1980–94)
  • The Tree House
  • Findings
  • This Weird Estate
  • Sightlines
  • The Overhaul
  • The Bonniest Companie
  • Selected Poems
  • Surfacing
  • Antlers of Water
  • Skeins o Geese
  • Cairn

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Rooted in Scottish landscape and cultureWrites in English and occasionally ScotsRich in natural descriptions
Recurring Motifs
naturelandscapetravelwomen's issuesarchaeologyvisual art

Legacy

Renowned Scottish poet and essayist known for works rooted in nature and landscape. Served as Scotland's Makar from 2021 to 2024. Influential in contemporary nature writing.

Archives

  • National Library of Scotland

In Popular Culture

  • A poem by Jamie is inscribed on the national monument at Bannockburn.

Trivia

  • Served as Scotland's fourth Makar (National Poet) from August 2021 to December 2024.
  • Her literary archive has been held at the National Library of Scotland since 1998.