Valerie Gillies | |
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| Born | 1948 Alberta, Canada |
| Occupation | Poet, radio and television writer |
| Notable works | 'Tweed Journey Each Bright Eye The Ringing Rock The Lightning Tree |
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| valeriegillies | |
Valerie Gillies (born 1948) is a Canadian-born poet who grew up inScotland. She was the second EdinburghMakar (Edinburgh's poet laureate) from 2005 to 2008.[1] Gillies has written for literary and arts reviews, the theatre, andBBC radio and television, and has worked with visual artists and musicians.[2] She has also taught creative writing extensively.[3]
Gillies was born inAlberta, Canada, but grew up in southern Scotland.[1] She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at theUniversity of Edinburgh.[4] She also studied traditionalSanskrit dramas inMysore, India.[5]
She lives in Edinburgh and is married to William Gillies, a Celtic scholar, with whom she has had three children: two daughters and a son.[6]
As well as publishing collections of poetry and appearing in various Faber and Penguin anthologies. In 1992, Gillies was appointed Writer in Residence for Midlothian and East Lothian[2] in a scheme promoted by the two districts that was supported by the Scottish Arts Council.[7] Her other residencies include The University of Edinburgh,Edinburgh College of Art, various district libraries and a large psychiatric hospital.
She was poet laureate ad vitam of theTrimontium Trust in 2002[5] and the second Edinburgh Makar (Edinburgh's poet laureate) from 2005 to 2008.[1]
In 2005, Gillies received a Creative Scotland Award to writeThe Spring Teller (2009), a book of poems inspired by Scotland's wells and springs.[8]
She spent 2009–10 and 2013–14 researching and writing as an associate of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences atHarvard University.[9]
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