Don Paterson
Born in Dundee in 1963, Paterson鈥檚 poetry career spans many years and many collections. Described as one of the most talented British poets of his 1960s-born generation,
Paterson has won several prestigious poetry awards including the T.S. Eliot Prize (twice), the Whitbread Poetry Prize, and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was also given the Queen鈥檚 Gold Medal for Poetry in 2009.
The poems selected for Higher English come from several collections. The Ferryman鈥檚 Arms and Nil Nil come from Nil Nil (1993), Waking with Russellcomes from Landing Light (2003) and 11:00: Baldovan is from God's Gift to Women (1997).
Paterson is also a jazz musician and many argue that his gift for rhythm and sound in his poetry comes from his musical background. Form and structure are very important in Paterson鈥檚 poetry and he often seeks to play with traditional forms in an inventive manner.