Scots Poem October 2004

Speirin

Binna feart, hinny
yin day we’ll gang thegither
tae thae stourie
blaebellwids
and loss wirsels-

see, I’d rather
whummel a single oor
intae the blae o thae wee flo’ers
than live fur a’ eternity
in some cauld hivvin.

Wheest, nou, till I spier o ye
will ye haud wi me?

By Kathleen Jamie, from her collection, The Tree House (Picador, 2004)

About the author

Kathleen Jamie was born in Renfrewshire in 1962, and studied Philosophy at Edinburgh University.

She has had several poetry collections published, including Black Spiders (Bloodaxe Books, 1987), The Queen of Sheba (Bloodaxe Books, 1994), Jizzen (Picador, 1999) and her latest collection,  The Treehouse (Picador, 2004).

Her selected poems, Mr and Mrs Scotland are Dead, was shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize, and she has won several prestigious awards for her other work, including a Somerset Maugham Award, a Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem), a Paul Hamlyn Award and a Creative Scotland Award. Both The Queen of Sheba and Jizzen won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award.

As well as poetry, Kathleen writes non-fiction, including transcripts for radio, and travel writing. Her account of travels in northern Pakistan, Among Muslims - Meetings at the Frontiers of Pakistan (Sort Of Books), was reissued in 2002.

Kathleen is a part-time lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of St Andrews and lives in Fife.

The Forward Poetry Prize for Best Collection On the eve of National Poetry Day, it was announced that Kathleen Jamie has won this year's £10,000 Forward Prize for Poetry for Best Collection, for The Tree House (Picador), from which Speirin is taken. The Forward Prize for Poetry is Britain's biggest annual poetry prize, and Kathleen is only the third woman to win the prize in its thirteen-year history. The judging panel, chaired by Lavinia Greenlaw, included poets Patience Agbabi, Ruth Fainlight and WN Herbert, and BBC Radio producer Tim Dee. The judges each read nearly a hundred collections before coming to their decision, and the shortlist included Kate Clanchy's Newborn (Picador) and August Kleinzahler's The Strange Hours Travellers Keep (Faber).

If you enjoyed this poem, you can borrow a range of poetry from the Scottish Poetry Library, who also lend by post. Telephone 0131 557 2876 or e-mail reception@spl.org.uk for more information. For an online catalogue, poetry events listings and more featured poems, please visit the Scottish Poetry Library website.