Robert Crawford (Scottish poet)

:"This article refers to the the Scottish poet; for other Robert Crawfords, see Robert Crawford (disambiguation)"Robert Crawford (1959 - ) is a Scottish poet , scholar and critic. He is currently "Professor of English" at the University of St Andrews, and "Head of the School of English". He was born in Bellshill and grew up in Cambuslang. He was educated at a private school in Glasgow, Hutchesons' Grammar School and at Glasgow University, where he received his M.A. degree. He then went to Oxford University where he received his D. Phil.

His main interest is in Post-Enlightenment Scottish literature, [The Modern Poet : Poetry, Academia, and Knowledge Since the 1750s ] including Robert Burns [ Robert Burns and Cultural Authority (editor) Edinburgh University Press, 1996.] and Robert Fergusson, ["Heaven Taught Fergusson": Robert Burns's Favourite Scottish Poet (editor) Tuckwell Press, 2002.] but he has a keen interest in contemporary poetry, [Identifying Poets: Self and Territory in Twentieth-Century Poetry Edinburgh University Press, 1993] including Edwin Morgan, [About Edwin Morgan (editor with Hamish Whyte) Edinburgh University Press, 1990.] Douglas Dunn [Reading Douglas Dunn (editor with David Kinloch) Edinburgh University Press, 1992.] and Liz Lochhead. [Liz Lochhead's Voices (editor with Anne Varty) Edinburgh University Press, 1994.] He is a prolific and successful poet himself, and concerns himself with the nature and processes of creative writing. [Talking Verse: Interviews with Poets (editor with Henry Hart, David Kinloch, Richard Price) Verse, 1995.] He has a particular interest in the work of T. S. Eliot [The Savage and the City in the Work of T. S. Eliot Clarendon Press, 1987.] and other aspects of Modernism.

His paternal grandfather was a Minister in the Church of Scotland and he considers himself a "Christian with a Presbyterian accent, rather than a Protestant", which he feels has rather assertive overtones in the contemporary West of Scotland. [Interview in Sunday Morning with Richard Holloway, BBC Radio Scotland 10 August 2008.] He has written on the relationship between science and religion [The God/Man/World/Triangle: A Dialogue between Science and Religion Palgrave, 1997.] as well as religious poetry. [Scottish Religious Poetry: An Anthology (editor with Meg Bateman and James McGonigal) Saint Andrew Press, 2002.]

He is interested in the relationship between literature, particularly poetry, and modern science, including Information Technology. [Contemporary Poetry and Contemporary Science edited by Robert Crawford [£19.99 hbck, O.U.P. 2006] ISBN 978-0-19-925812-3.] He says he shares an appreciation of ‘"poetry and science as kinds of discovery quickened by observation and imagination’". He even goes so far as as to claim that 'It "is part of the poet's delight even duty, to use such [scientific] words and experience in poetry"'. [Contemporary Poetry and Contemporary Science p. 53.]

His first collection of poems was called "A Scottish Assembly", [A Scottish Assembly Chatto & Windus, 1990.] and this included a poem called "Cambuslang"). In addition this, he has published "Talkies" (1992), "Masculinity" (1996), "Spirit Machines" (1999), "The Tip of My Tongue" (2003), and "Full Volume" (2008). He also published "Sharawaggi: Poems in Scots" (1990), shared with W. N. Herbert.

The geography and place names of Scotland feature very prominently in his own poems and he takes a lively interest in the developing politics of contemporary Scotland. As well as science, politics, religion, landscape, and environment and spirituality, [The Tip of My Tongue Cape, 2003.] his poems deal with gender and sex (particularly married sex). [Masculinity Cape, 1996.]
Crawford writes in a modern English, with a few nods to dialect words, with an occasional made-up word, or one borrowed from technical science. The main forms he uses are short and lyrical. He has translated from the 17th Century Latin of the Aberdeenshire poet Arthur Johnston. His work has met with critical acclaim

The voice of this poetry is engaging and likeable.
- Peter McDonald, Literary Review
His Selected Poems is a revelation. Crawford is a very fine poet indeed. This book is aglitter with surprise, with new ways of seeing, of hearing, and of feeling... This astounding collection, rich also in wit, is a book to be homesick for.
- Candia McWilliam, The Scotsman

Others have found him a bad poet, repetitive, controlling and pretentious. See [http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=13918] Robin Purves "The Celtic Twiglet:against Robert Crawford’s Scotland".

He has won several prizes, notably
1988 Eric Gregory Award
1993 Scottish Arts Council Book Award for Identifying Poets
1999 Scottish Arts Council Book Award for Spirit Machines
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

He was a founder of the international magazine Verse in 1984 and worked as poetry editor for the Edinburgh publisher Polygon in the 1990s. With Simon Armitage he is co-editor of The Penguin Book of Poetry from Britain and Ireland since 1945 (1998) and with Mick Imlah he co-edited The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse (2000). He publishes poetry, and occasional works of criticism in the London Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement.

External links

* [http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=13918] Robin Purves The Celtic Twiglet:against Robert Crawford’s Scotland
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/may/17/featuresreviews.guardianreview18] James Campbell’s Guardian review of The Tip of My Tongue 17 May 2003
* [http://www.bsls.ac.uk/?page_id=45] Review for The British Society for Literature and Science of Robert Crawford (ed.), Contemporary Poetry and Contemporary Science Review by Katy Price, Anglia Ruskin University
* [http://www.thepoetryhouse.org/PHProjects/Project2/project2.html] The Poetry House at St Andrew’s University, with Biology by Robert Crawford and a response by biologist Rona Ramsay
* [http://www.towerpoetry.org.uk/poetry-matters/september2005/crawford.html] Jane Yeh reviews Selected Poems by Robert Crawford