Burnside, John

(1955- )

   Scottish poet and novelist Burside was born in Dunfermline, Fifeshire. He studied English and European languages at Cambridge College of Arts and Technology. A former computer software engineer, he has been a freelance writer since 1996. He is a former writer in residence at Dundee University and now teaches at St. Andrews University. In addition to his poetry, he has published several novels, and his memoir, A Lie About My Father, was published in 2006. Burning Elvis (2000) is a collection of short stories. He has won ten major literary awards and prizes. In 2005 The Good Neighbor was short listed for the Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year). Some of his poetry publications: The Hoop, 1998. Common Knowledge, 1991. Feast Days, 1992. The Myth of the Twin, 1994. Swimming in the Flood, 1995. A Normal Skin, 1997. The Mercy Boys, 1999. The Good Neighbour, 2005. Some of his poems: "Autobiography," "Dundee," "Homage to Kare Kivijarvi," "Septuagesima," "Swimming in the Flood."

   Sources: British Council Arts (http://www.contemporarywriters.com). Emergency Kit: Poems for Strange Times. Jo Shapcott and Matthew Sweeney, ed. Faber and Faber, 1996. Biography of John Burnside (http://www.nls.uk/writestuff/heads/wee-burnside.html). Penguin Modern Poets, Book 9. John Burnside, Robert Crawford, Kathleen Jamie, ed. Penguin Books, 1996. Septuagesima, Poem by John Burnside (http://www.thepoem.co.uk/poems/burnside.htm). 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 Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.