Robertson, Robin

(1955- )

   Raised on the northeast coast of Scotland, he now lives and works in London. In 2004, he was named by the Poetry Book Society as one of the "Next Generation" poets. He received the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His poems have appeared in the New Yorker, the Times Literary Supplement, Grand Street, the London Review of Books, and other publications. He edited Mortification: Writers' Stories of Their Public Shame, published by Fourth Estate, 2003. More than eighty writers tell their stories, revealing their various foibles with humor rather than regret. Each new excerpt is prefaced by an apt quotation, a pithy addition to an already enjoyable sojourn through the embarrassment of others. Some of his poetry publications: A Painted Field, 1997 (won the Alderburgh Poetry Festival Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize [Best First Collection]; and the Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award). Slow Air, 2002. Actaeon: The Early Years, 2006. Swithering, 2006. Some of his poems: "Aberdeen," "At Dawn," "Crossing the Archipelago," "Feeding the Fire," "Trumpeter Swan," "Waves," "Wedding the Locksmith's Daughter."

   Sources: Biography of Robin Robertson (http://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/trustees.php?t=6). British Council Arts (http://www.contemporarywriters.com). Firebird 3: Writing Today. Robin Robertson, ed. Penguin Books 1984. Firebird 4: New Writing from Britain and Ireland. Robin Robertson, ed. Penguin Books 1985. Penguin Modern Poets 13. Robin Robertson, Michael Hofmann and Michael Longley, eds. Penguin Books, 1998. Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry. Billy Collins, ed. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse. Robert Crawford and Mick Imlah, eds. Penguin Books, 2000. The New York Review of Books: Robin Robertson (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=17314).