John Burnside
John Burnside
John Burnsideis a Scottish writer, born in Dunfermline. He is one of only two poetsto have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth19 March 1955
range textures tonal
The fabric of a garden is determined as much by its textures as by its tonal range and architectural flair.
cliffs constantly crumbling decay highest landscape nova park provincial red sandy shore slide slowly soft tides trees unlike wash
There is a red sandy beach in the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia that is unlike any other shore landscape I have ever seen. The world's highest tides wash its shores, and the soft cliffs of Blomidon Provincial Park are constantly crumbling away; whole trees will occasionally slide down to the sea to decay slowly in the wind and brine.
across almost house pleasure stumbling
The only pleasure in redecorating or moving house comes from stumbling across books that I'd almost forgotten I owned.
mistrust suspect took
Usually, I would mistrust a book if it took that long to write. Usually, if it isn't done in two years, I suspect there's something wrong and throw it away.
albeit bound cultivate demanding gardens human obliged painfully period realm separation time until
The conventional, and painfully artificial, separation of the human realm from the natural other is bound to perish, albeit over a period of time, until we are obliged to learn how to cultivate our gardens under the most demanding conditions.
saving
What we should be doing is saving habitats, not single species, no matter what their cuteness factor.
atmosphere birds books creating emotional great narrative played
As a child, I read a great many books in which animals and birds played significant roles, not only in the narrative itself, but also in creating the emotional and psychological atmosphere of that narrative - the imaginative furniture, as it were, in which any story unfolds.
announcing found
One day I was talking about what I was going to do next, and just found myself announcing it: 'I'm going to write a book about my father.'
area aside belonged dates deer fit hunt larger masters meant norman violent word
A forest - the word dates back to the Norman occupancy, when it meant an area set aside for England's violent new masters to hunt boar and deer - is necessarily larger than a wood. It belonged to the king and was a fit place for his recreation.
The older I get, the happier my childhood becomes.
builds finished head hold lines longer mind piece poem quite register several soon time until work written
The poem builds in my mind and sits there, as if in a register, until the poem, or a piece of a longer poem, is finished enough to write down. I can hold several lines in my head for quite some time, but as soon as they are written down, the register clears, as it were, and I have to work with what is on the paper.
incredibly interests
Irrationality interests me more than anything: sometimes it's very dangerous, but it can be incredibly beautiful.
learning primary school
I remember when I first encountered anthropocentrism. I was in primary school and, in preparation for our confirmation, the class was learning about the afterlife.
arctic circle map
I went for a walk in the Arctic Circle without map or compass. Fortunately, I was only lost for hours, not days.