Elizabeth-Jane Burnett (born 1980) is a poet and academic, and is currently Lecturer in Creative Writing at Newman University in Birmingham, Associate Professor at

Northumbria University , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = � ...

, and a

Leverhulme The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...

Research Fellow for 2021-22. She has described herself as an 'ecopoet' who curates 'ecopoetic' exhibitions. She is interested in

nature writing Nature writing is nonfiction or fiction prose or poetry about the natural environment. Nature writing encompasses a wide variety of works, ranging from those that place primary emphasis on natural history facts (such as field guides) to those in w ...

, as well as place and family heritage.

Early life and education

Burnett was born in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. Her mother is

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n while her father was born to a farming family in

Ide, Devon Ide is a village in Devon, England, just under southwest of Exeter. The village church is dedicated to the German Saint Ida of Herzfeld and was rebuilt in 1834. The majority of the village is separated from suburban Exeter by the A30 dual c ...

. She studied English at

Oxford 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 ...

, after which she attended

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, to study for an MA and PhD in Contemporary Poetics. Burnett also studied performance at the

Bowery Poetry Club The Bowery Poetry Club is a New York City poetry performance space founded by Bob Holman in 2002.Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). ''Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam.'' Chapter 26: What the ...

in New York and Naropa.

Publications

Burnett has published two poetry collections with Penned in the Margins, 'Swims' and 'Of Sea'. Both books are concerned with the environment and activism, and Burnett is interested in how 'poetry can raise consciousness by bringing the effects of climate change or pollution to life'. 'Swims' documents experiences of wild swimming across the England and Wales, was featured as a

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

Poetry Book of the Year in 2017. Her poetry features in the anthologies ''Dear World and Everyone In It: New Poetry in the UK'' (Bloodaxe, 2013) and ''Out of Everywhere 2: Linguistically Innovative Poetry by Women in North America and the UK'' (Reality Street, 2015). ''Wasafiri'' 106: the Water issue (2021), features three poems by Burnett. Her PhD thesis was published as ''A Social Biography of Contemporary Innovative Poetry Communities: The Gift, the Wager, and Poethics'' (2017) by Palgrave Macmillan. ''The Grassling, A Geological Memoir'' (2019) was a winner of the

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

WriteNow award. She published 'Rivering', a pamphlet of poems, with Oystercatcher Press in 2019. In 2021, Burnett was commissioned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

to create a poem responding to nature observations made by members of the public.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Elizabeth-Jane 1980 births Living people Writers from Devon People associated with Newman University, Birmingham 20th-century English poets 21st-century English poets