Don Paterson is a Scottish poet, writer and musician. His work includes ‘Nil, Nil’, ‘God’s Gift to Women’, ‘Landing Light’ and ‘Rain.’
His work has been highly acclaimed and he has received many accolades throughout his career including the Forward Poetry Award, the Whitbread Poetry Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award and the TS Elliot Prize.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2008, Don was awarded an OBE. Following this, in 2010, he received the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
He is also an accomplished writer and has produced work on Shakespeare, Seamus Heaney and Robert Burns. His latest book ‘Reading Shakespeare’s Sonnets: A New Commentary’ adds to the vast amount of work he has done on the work of Britain’s most celebrated poet and playwright.
He is also a passionate jazz guitarist, having left Dundee for London at the age of 16 to pursue a musical career. He found success with the jazz-folk ensemble Lammas in the 1980s before deciding on a career in poetry.
He currently the Poetry Editor for Picador and is a Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
What are Don’s thoughts on Shakespeare’s sonnets? Can poetry resonate with people in different ways? And why do so many like to find fault with literary greats?
Susan caught up with Don, a few weeks back, at the Mountains to the Sea Dún Laoghaire Book Festival and discussed these questions and more.
Don Paterson
Then, in part two, Susan will stay on the theme of English literature, but with a bit of a twist, as she will be joined by British linguist, author and academic David Crystal.
His latest book ‘Words in Time and Place’ takes the reader through the historiography of a whole host of words and phrases. Each chapter deals with a different theme, such as money or death, and is accompanied with commentary and anecdotes from Crystal.
Born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland in 1941, Crystal grew up in Holyhead, Wales before moving to Liverpool at the age of 10.
His career in English language studies began in 1959, as he read English at University College London. He went on to teach at the University of Reading and, initially, Bangor University, Wales, where he is now the Honorary Professor of Linguistics.
He has authored over 100 books on this topic and is world renowned for his work in this area. In 1995, David was awarded an OBE and in 2000, became a Fellow of the British Academy.
Join Susan and David as they chronicle the vast evolution of the English language over the years.
What was the influence of Shakespeare and the Bible on the English language? Why does David consider the study of forensic linguistics an interesting and important area of research? And why is he continually fascinated by language?
