The University of Dundee has just welcomed its new creative writing fellow, Colette Bryce, to her post.
Poet Colette, whose debut book "The Heel of Bernadette" was published by Picador in 2000, is keen to offer guidance to staff and students of the University as well as to forge literature-related links with the local community through activities including public readings.
She said, "I'm pleased to be in Dundee - during my time in the city I intend to become involved with local arts initiatives and hope to take part in community activities. I' m already enjoying meeting the student writers and getting to know their creative works. This post has also given me a great opportunity to work on my next book of poems over the coming months."
Colette, 32, originally from Derry, Northern Ireland but having spent the last few years living in London, started writing seriously in her early 20s and had her first poems published in an Anvil new poets anthology at the age of 25. "The Heel of Bernadette" has been described as "clear-sighted and emotionally true with a gift for the near-lyric".
She follows in the footsteps of acclaimed former University resident writers Tracey Herd, Don Paterson, Anne Stevenson, Sam Selvon Val Warner, James Rankin, Carl MacDougall, Douglas Dunn, Sean O'Brien, Kathleen Jamie, and John Burnside.
The position of Creative Writing Fellow at Dundee is an important and well-known one in British poetry circles. It dates from the early 1970s and is funded equally by the University of Dundee and the Scottish Arts Council. It is normally held either by a poet or by a writer of prose fiction.
Professor Peter Kitson, head of the English department said, "The Department of English is very pleased to act as host to a new and brilliant poet such as Collete who is possessed of such tremendous literary potential. I am sure that she will make a significant impact on those interested in the reading and writing of poetry both in the University and the locality during her time with us."
By Jane Smernicki, Press Officer 01382 344768 j.m.smernicki@dundee.ac.uk