Caroline Bird (born 1986) is a British poet, playwright and author.

Life

Caroline Bird was born in 1986. Daughter of

Jude Kelly Judith "Jude" Pamela Kelly, (born March 1954), is a British theatre director and producer. She is a director of the WOW Foundation, which organises the annual Women of the World Festival, founded in 2010 by Kelly. From 2006 to 2018, she was Ar ...

, she grew up in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, England, and attended the Steiner School in York and the

Lady Eleanor Holles School Lady Eleanor Holles School (often abbreviated to LEH or LEHS) is an independent day school for girls in Hampton, London. It consists of a small junior school and a larger senior school, which operate from different buildings on the same site. It ...

before moving to London in 2001. She studied English literature at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and was president of the Oxford Poetry Society. She teaches regularly at the

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Cumper is Ch ...

Published works

Bird has published six collections of poetry. Her sixth collection ''The Air Year'' won the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2020, and was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and the Polar Prize. Her fifth collection, ''In These Days Of Prohibition'', was shortlisted for the 2017 TS Eliot Prize and The Ted Hughes Award. Her first collection, ''Looking Through Letterboxes'' (published in 2002 when she was 15), is a collection of poems built on the traditions of fairy tales, fantasy and romance. Her second collection, ''Trouble Came to the Turnip'', was published in September 2006 to critical acclaim. Her third collection, ''Watering Can'',' received a

Poetry Book Society The Poetry Book Society (PBS) was founded in 1953 by T. S. Eliot and friends, including Sir Basil Blackwell, "to propagate the art of poetry". Eric Walter White was secretary from December 1953 until 1971, and was subsequently the society's chair ...

Recommendation. Her fourth collection, ''The Hat-Stand Union'', published in 2013, was described by

Simon Armitage Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds. He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...

as "spring-loaded, sad, deadly... explodes with poetry." Her Selected Poems, ''Rookie'' was published in May 2022. Bird's poems have been published in several anthologies and journals including ''

Poetry Magazine ''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by Harriet Monroe, it is now published by the Poetry Foundat ...

'', ''

PN Review Launched as ''Poetry Nation'', a twice-yearly hardback, in 1973, ''PN Review'' - now an A4 paperback - began quarterly publication in 1976 and has appeared six times a year since 1981 (PN Review 21). Two hundred and twenty-five issues of the magaz ...

'', ''

Poetry Review ''Poetry Review'' is the magazine of The Poetry Society, edited by the poet Emily Berry. Founded in 1912, shortly after the establishment of the Society, previous editors have included poets Muriel Spark, Adrian Henri, Andrew Motion and Maurice R ...

'' and ''The North'' magazine. Her poems and a commissioned short story, "Sucking Eggs", have been broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. A member of the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

Young Writers Programme, Bird is also a playwright. She was part of the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...

's 2011 project ''

Sixty-Six Books ''Sixty-Six Books'' was a set of plays premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2011, to mark the theatre's reopening on a new site and the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. It drew its title from the 66 books of the Protestant Bibl ...

'', for which she wrote a piece based on a book of the ''

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

''. In February 2012, she presented her '' Beano''-inspired show ''The Trial of Dennis the Menace'', featuring original music by Matt Rogers, which was performed in the

Purcell Room The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century England, English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats. The Pu ...

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

. In Autumn 2012, her radical version of ''The Trojan Women'' enjoyed a seven-week run at The Gate Theatre, to wide critical acclaim. Her original play ''Chamber Piece'' was performed at the

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

as part of their Secret Theatre Season. In Christmas 2015, her re-twisted telling of ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...

'' premiered at

Northern Stage Northern Stage is a regional non-profit LORT (League of Resident Theatres)-D professional theater company located in White River Junction, VT. Founded in 1997 by Brooke Ciardelli. Northern Stage launched New Works Now in 2014. Northern Stage ...

, and received a four-star review in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. In Spring 2022, her play
Red Ellen
' about the life and work of Ellen Wilkinson, was produced by

Nottingham Playhouse Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and Fr ...

and

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...

and received four star reviews in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

WhatsOnStage WhatsOnStage.com is a London-based website that provides information about, and offers tickets for, theatrical performances in the United Kingdom. It also organises the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Founded in 1996, it has been owned by the Americ ...

'' and ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

''.

Prizes and recognition

Bird was awarded the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2020 for ''The Air Year''. She was shortlisted for the

Costa Prize The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

and the Polari Prize in 2022 and the

T. S. Eliot Prize The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize that was, for many years, awarded by the Poetry Book Society (UK) to "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Priz ...

and the

Ted Hughes Award The Ted Hughes Award is an annual prize given to a living UK poet for new work in poetry. It is awarded each spring in recognition of a work from the previous year. Background The award was established in 2009 with the permission of Carol Hughes i ...

in 2017. She was a winner of the ''

Poetry London ''Poetry London'' is a literary periodical based in London. Published three times a year, it features poems, reviews, and other articles. Profile Adopting the title of an earlier bimonthly publication which ran from 1939 to 1951, ''Poetry London' ...

'' Competition in 2007, the Peterloo Poetry Competition for three years running (2004, 2003 and 2002), a major

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by British poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. In 2021, the seven ...

in 2002 and the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Award in 1999 and 2000. She was shortlisted for the

Geoffrey Dearmer Award The Geoffrey Dearmer Award is an annual poetry prize founded in 1997 and run by the Poetry Society in memory of the poet Geoffrey Dearmer (1893–1996), who at 103 was the Society's oldest member. By establishing an endowment fund, the Dearmer fami ...

in 2001. Caroline was shortlisted for the

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published w ...

in 2008, and was the youngest writer on the list at 21. She was shortlisted again for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2010. She was awarded the honour of "Young Champion" in 2010 at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and attended the "What Makes A Young Champion?" event. She was on the shortlist for Shell Woman Of The Future Awards 2011. She was one of the five official poets for the

London Olympics 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Her poem ‘"The Fun Palace", which celebrates the life and work of

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

, is now erected on the Olympic Site outside the main stadium. Her original play ''Chamber Piece'' was shortlisted for The

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women+ writing for English-speaking theatre. Named for Susan Smith Blackburn (1935–1977), alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer. W ...

2014.

Bibliography

* ''Looking Through Letterboxes'', Carcanet Press (2002) * ''Trouble Came to the Turnip'', Carcanet Press (2006) * ''Watering Can'', Carcanet Press (2009) * ''The Trojan Women'', Oberon Books (2012) * ''The Hat-Stand Union'', Carcanet Press (2013) * ''Chamber Piece'', Oberon Books (2013) * ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', Oberon Books (2015) * ''In These Days of Prohibition'', Carcanet Press (2017) * ''The Air Year'', Carcanet Press (2020) * ''Red Ellen'', Nick Hern (2022) * ''Rookie, Selected Poems'', Carcanet Press (2022)

References

External links

Caroline BirdFeature on Bird's shortlisting for The Dylan Thomas Prize
in ''

''
Feature on Bird's shortlisting for The Dylan Thomas Prize
on the BBC website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Caroline 1986 births 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English poets 21st-century English women writers English dramatists and playwrights English women dramatists and playwrights English women poets Living people People educated at Lady Eleanor Holles School