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
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.
history knew larger offer personal realised
When you have a child, you think about your personal history and what you offer them as a larger narrative, and I realised I knew nothing about my father's circumstances other than what he'd told me.
advertising becomes commodity essential history immediate less life nature passing
With each passing decade, history becomes less real for us, less immediate and essential to our way of life, and so, like 'green' nature, more of a commodity or an advertising gimmick.
argued human
With human beings it could be argued that all music-making is, in essence, grounded in improvisation.
family found left moved quickly ten west work
When I was ten years old, my family left a cold, damp prefab in West Fife and moved to Corby, Northamptonshire, where my father quickly found work at what was then the Stewarts & Lloyds steelworks.
encounters gravity joyful level partner possible teaches work
What the flamingo teaches a child, at that subliminal level where animal encounters work, is that gravity is not just a limitation, but also a possible partner in an intriguing, potentially joyful game.
desk organic poems poetry tend
With fiction, I tend to get to my desk and start writing. Poetry I write in my head, often while walking, so that my poems have an organic quality, hopefully.
commercial critical heroes interests save
We do not need to be heroes to save the world; all we need is humility, a critical view of the commercial and political interests of those who would mislead us into wrongdoing, and a sense of wonder.
best looked threw
'Moby-Dick' really threw me. I read it when I was 14 and my best friends were books. It changed the way I looked at the world.
book car copies destroy tried
My first book was a car crash. I tried to find all the copies and destroy them.
fourth novels
My second, third and fourth novels were mistakes, essentially.
objects seen
One of the most beautiful objects I have ever seen was a Yupik wolf mask, made in Nunivak in around 1890.
finest offers robin
My editor, Robin Robertson, is one of this country's finest poets, so I listen to him when he offers advice.
almost fearful later proportion saw tough
My father was this big, tough guy, almost heroic in proportion to me as a child. It was only later that I saw how fearful he was.