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
home nature offers
If nature offers no home, then we must make a home one way or another. The only question is how.
favour gardeners larger perhaps straight understood wildness work
I have never understood why so many gardeners favour straight lines and narrow, regulated borders; perhaps they think wildness could work only in a larger space.
I'm an insomniac, so my perfect reader is probably another insomniac.
account certain consider emphasis everyday fresh high near open relatives reminding spite visual
High Alpine meadows, like their near relatives prairie, desert and certain varieties of wetland, teach us to consider the world from a fresh perspective, to open our eyes and take account of what we have missed, reminding us that, in spite of our emphasis on the visual in everyday speech, we see so very little of the world.
likely marriages matrimony occasion offer quite seemed somewhat suggest
I don't want to suggest that matrimony was necessarily a tragic affair - some of our neighbours' marriages seemed quite functional, if somewhat routine; nevertheless, in the workaday world, it is wedlock that is most likely to offer the occasion for life-threatening disappointment.
dwelling humans plants
I think humans have to learn a new way of dwelling on this earth. A way of living with their companions: animals, plants and fish.
mad playing school
I remember playing the Mad Hatter in a school play and feeling very comfortable in the character.
cannot poetry realised spent talking time trying
I realised I'd spent a lot of time in my poetry trying to find a way of talking about that whereof we cannot speak.
moved parts south
I moved south when I was 11 years old, moved to England. I've lived in all kinds of places, all parts of England.
rather term
I don't like the term 'mental illness.' I'd rather just say 'mad.' Just like I always say 'loony bin,' not 'mental hospital.'
art courses loved three
I always wanted to be a painter. I loved painting. I went on three different art courses but had no talent whatsoever.
art bedroom house lived picture posters visits
Growing up, I lived in a house without art: no picture books on the shelves, no visits to museums, no posters on the bedroom wall.
For 10 years, I gave away my possessions every year and moved on to a new place.
characters nicer people time
Every time I write a book, I think how I could be doing it better to please people - a nicer book with nicer characters - but I just can't.