Don Paterson

Although it would be in poetry that Dundee-born Don Paterson would ultimately reach a critical zenith, he started out in music – joining club bands and jazz acts, soon finding himself in London. Then his passion for writing began to really take shape. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Dundee and was a journalist in Edinburgh, writing an arts column for Scotland on Sunday and reviewing video games for The Times. From his first collection of poetry (Nil Nil, 1993), Paterson has been winning awards, including two T S Eliot Prizes. In 2008 he was awarded an OBE, and in 2010 he was presented with the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry. He teaches poetry at the University of St Andrews and continues to be an actively performing musician. He was one of our Guest Selectors for the 2010 Edinburgh International Book Festival programme, working with the Scottish Poetry Library to choose a number of poets to feature in a specially curated starnd of events, which proved extremely popular with audiences.

Don Paterson has read from Rain at Book Slam in London, and at the Edinburgh Festival Expo. For more information on the poet, read his interviews with Times Online and the Independent, or browse his website.