W. N. Herbert , also known as Bill Herbert (born 1961) is a poet from
Dundee,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. He writes in both English and
Scots. He and
Richard Price
Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer, pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French ...
founded the poetry magazine ''
Gairfish''. He currently teaches at
Newcastle University.
Early life
Herbert was born in 1961 in Dundee. He was educated at
Grove Academy
Grove Academy is an 11–18 mixed secondary school in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland.
History
Grove Academy was established in 1889. In 2007, construction began on completely new buildings on the site of the Extension Buildings and huts. T ...
and then studied at
Brasenose College, Oxford gaining a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1992 after completing a thesis on the work of
Hugh MacDiarmid
Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid (), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish Rena ...
.
Career
In 1994, he was one of 20 poets chosen by a panel of judges, as the
New Generation
"New Generation" is the third and final single from the album ''Dog Man Star'' by English rock band Suede, released on 30 January 1995 through Nude Records. It is the first single to feature music by new guitarist Richard Oakes. Though the tit ...
in a promotion organised by the
Poetry Society
The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...
. He was one of the writers involved in the
Informationist poetry movement that emerged in Scotland in the 1990s.
He became a Professor of Poetry & Creative Writing at the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University.
In September 2013, Herbert was appointed as Dundee's first
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 cen ...
.
Awards and honours
He became a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature in 2015.
Books
Poetry collections
* ''Dundee Doldrums'' (1991)
* ''The Testament of the Reverend Thomas Dick'' (1994)
* ''Cabaret McGonagall'' (1996)
* ''The Laurelude'' (1998)
* ''The Big Bumper Book of Troy'' (2002)
* ''Bad Shaman Blues'' (2006)
* ''Three Men on the Metro'', with
Andy Croft and
Paul Summers, Five Leaves (2009)
* ''Omnesia'' (2013)
* ''The Wreck of the Fathership'' (2020)
Literary criticism
* ''To Circumjack MacDiarmid'' (1992)
References
External links
Biographyat the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
Herbert's pageat
Newcastle University
Professor Herbert's homepageProfile at Bloodaxe Books
1961 births
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Poets from Dundee
Living people
People educated at Grove Academy
Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
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