Hill, Selima

(1945- )

   Born in Hampstead, London, into a family of painters and writers, she now lives by the sea in Dorset. She read moral sciences at Cambridge University (1965-1967), married a painter, and had a family before publishing her first collection, Saying Hello at the Station (1984). She has known tragedy in her life, being badly burned when she was a baby and then later spending time in a psychiatric hospital. She has worked on multimedia projects with the Royal Ballet, Welsh National Opera and BBC Bristol. She is a tutor at the Poetry School in London, has taught creative writing in hospitals and prisons, and works for the Poetry Library in London. Some of her other poetry publications: The Accumulation of Small Acts of Kindness, 1989 (won first prize in the Arvon Foundation/Observer International Poetry Competition). Violet, 1997. Bunny, 2001 (won the Whitbread Poetry Award). Portrait of My Lover as a Horse, 2002. Lou-Lou, 2004. Red Roses, 2006. Some of her poems: "A Voice in the Garden," "Being a Wife," "Crossing the Desert in a Pram," "Diving Archaeologists," "Looking for Camels."

   Sources: British Council Arts (http://www.contemporarywriters.com). Emergency Kit: Poems for Strange Times. Jo Shapcott and Matthew Sweeney, ed. Faber and Faber, 1996. The Bloodaxe Book of 20th Century Poetry, from Britain and Ireland. Edna Longley, ed. Bloodaxe Books, 2000. 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 Faber Book of 20th Century Women's Poetry. Fleur Adcock, ed. Faber and Faber, 1987. The New British Poetry, 1968-88. Gillian Allnutt, Fred D'Aguiar and Ken Edwards, eds. Grafton Books, 1989. The New Exeter Book of Riddles. Kevin Crossley-Holland and Lawrence Sail, eds. Enitharmon Press, 1999. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.