Hollis, Matthew

(1971- )

   Born in 1971 in Norwich, Norfolk, he studied at Edinburgh University and York University. He published a pamphlet, The Boy on the Edge of Happiness (1996), then went on to win an Eric Gregory Award in 1999. His first collection of poems, Ground Water (2004), is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and was short listed for the 2004 Guardian First Book Award, the Whitbread Poetry Award and the Forward Poetry Prize (Best First Collection). He also edited 101 Poems Against War (2003) with Paul Keegan (poetry editor at Faber and Faber), and Strong Words: Modern Poets on Modern Poetry (2000) with W.N. Herbert (see entry). In 2001 he took part in the Arts Council "First Lines" U.K. poetry tour and was selected by the British Council to participate in Write On! touring Croatia (2001) and Hungary in 2004. He is a tutor for the Poetry School in London and has taught creative writing in schools and universities. He lives in London, where he works as an editor at Faber and Faber.

   Sources: British Council Arts (http://www.contemporarywriters.com).