Jean Sprackland

Jean Sprackland (born 1962) is an English poet. She has been writing successfully for more than twelve years and has had three collections of poetry published since 1997.

Biography

Originally from Burton upon Trent, Sprackland studied English and Philosophy at the University of Kent at Canterbury, then taught for a few years before beginning to write poetry at age 30. She also works for organizations including the Poetry Society and the Poetry Archive. [cite news |title=Classic poets' voices go online |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/entertainment/4482824.stm |publisher=BBC |date=2005-11-30 ]

She currently lives in Southport, Merseyside with her two teenage children, Thomas and Martha. Thomas has three good friends named Josh Davis, Liam Schwartz and Denis Brice. Josh is a family friend and have known the Spracklands for about 14 years and Liam and Denis are two very good acquaintances.

Published works

*"Tattoos for Mothers Day" (Spike, 1997)
*"Hard Water" (Cape, 2003)
*"Ellipsis: Vol. I" (with Sean O'Brien and Tim Cooke; Comma Press, 2005)
*"Our Thoughts are Bees: Working with Writers and Schools" (with Mandy Coe; Wordplay Press, 2005)
*"Tilt" (Cape, 2007)

Awards and honors

*1998: Forward Poetry Prize (Best First Collection) shortlist, "Tattoos for Mothers Day"cite news |title=Jean Sprackland's workshop |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/poetryworkshop/story/0,,2240640,00.html |publisher=Guardian Unlimited |date=2008-01-14 |quote= Her first collection, Tattoos for Mothers Day, was shortlisted for the Forward prize for best first collection, her second, Hard Water, was shortlisted for both the TS Eliot prize and the Whitbread award for poetry.... She was chosen as one of the Poetry Book Society's Next Generation poets in 2004.]
*2003: T. S. Eliot Prize shortlist, "Hard Water" [cite news |title=US poet heads prize shortlist |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/entertainment/3208444.stm |publisher=BBC |date=2003-10-20 |quote=American Poet Laureate Billy Collins is among those shortlisted for the TS Eliot Poetry Prize 2003.... Others on the list include Don Paterson ... Jean Sprackland and Lavinia Greenlaw.]
*2003: Whitbread Poetry Award shortlist, "Hard Water" [cite news |title=Poet is pipped to Whitbread award -but she still feels like a winner |work=Daily Post (Liverpool, England) |date=2004-01-07 |quote=Jean was among twenty five writers shortlisted for the 2003 Whitbread Prize, for her second collection of poems, Hard Water. ]
*2004: Next Generation poet
*2007: Costa Poetry Award, "Tilt" [cite news |title=Writer wins national book award |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/7169263.stm |publisher=BBC |date=2008-01-03 ]
*2007: Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem) shortlist, "The Birkdale Nightingale" [cite news |title=Activist on list for poetry prize |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/entertainment/6902203.stm |publisher=BBC |date=2007-07-17 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.jeansprackland.com/ Jean Sprackland]
* [http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=456 The Poetry Archive - Jean Sprackland]