Valerie Gillies (born 1948) is a Canadian-born poet who grew up in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. She was the second Edinburgh
Makar
A makar () is a term from Scottish literature for a poet or bard, often thought of as a royal court poet.
Since the 19th century, the term ''The Makars'' has been specifically used to refer to a number of poets of fifteenth and sixteenth cent ...
(
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
's poet laureate) from 2005 to 2008.
Gillies has written for literary and arts reviews, the theatre, and
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
radio and television, and has worked with visual artists and musicians.
She has also taught creative writing extensively.
Life and education
Gillies was born in
Alberta, Canada
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to t ...
, but grew up in southern Scotland.
She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. She also studied traditional
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
dramas in
Mysore, India
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
.
She lives in Edinburgh and is married to William Gillies, a Celtic scholar, with whom she has had three children: two daughters and a son.
Career
As well as publishing collections of poetry and appearing in various Faber and Penguin anthologies. In 1992, Gillies was appointed Writer in Residence for Midlothian and East Lothian
in a scheme promoted by the two districts that was supported by the Scottish Arts Council. Her other residencies include The University of Edinburgh,
Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...
, various district libraries and a large psychiatric hospital.
She was poet laureate ad vitam of the
Trimontium Trust in 2002
and the second Edinburgh Makar (Edinburgh's poet laureate) from 2005 to 2008.
In 2005, Gillies received a Creative Scotland Award to write ''The Spring Teller'' (2009), a book of poems inspired by Scotland's wells and springs.
She spent 2009–10 and 2013–14 researching and writing as an associate of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
Bibliography
Collections of poetry
* ''The Cream of the Well: New and Selected Poems'' (2015)
* ''The Spring Teller'', Luath (2009)
* ''The Lightning Tree'', Polygon (2002)
* ''Men and Beasts'', with photographer Rebecca Marr, Luath Press (non-fiction and poetry) (2000)
* ''St Kilda Waulking Song'', artist's book with Will Maclean, Morning Star (1998)
* ''The Ringing Rock'', Scottish Cultural Press (1995)
* ''Poeti della Scozia Contemporanea'', Supernova, Venezia
ranslation(1992)
* ''The Jordanstone Folio'', with 12 artists, Tay Press (1990)
* ''The Chanter's Tune'', Canongate (1990)
* ''The Tweed Journey'', Canongate (1989)
* ''Leopardi: A Scottis Quair'', Edinburgh University Press
ranslation(1987)
* ''Bed of Stone'', Canongate (1984)
* ''Each Bright Eye'', Canongate (1977)
* ''Poetry Introduction 3'', Faber (1975)
* ''Trio'', New Rivers Press, New York (1971)
Contributions to anthologies, selected
* ''The New Minstrels of the Scottish Borders'', Deerpark Press (2006)
* ''Tweed Rivers'', Platform Press and Luath Press (2005)
* ''Scottish Literature in the Twentieth Century'', Scottish Cultural Press (2002)
* ''The Faber Book of Twentieth Century Scottish Poetry'', Faber (2002)
* ''Love for Love'', Pocketbooks (2000)
* ''Atoms of Delight'', Pocketbooks (2000)
* ''The Jewel Box CD'', Scottish Poetry Library (2000)
* ''Homage to the Carmina Gadelica'', Morning Star (1998)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Valerie
1948 births
Canadian women poets
Living people
20th-century Canadian poets
20th-century Canadian women writers
21st-century Canadian poets
21st-century Canadian women writers