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 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

Biography
at 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 page
at Newcastle University
Professor Herbert's homepage

Profile 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 {{UK-writer-stub