Liz Niven
Was born in Glasgow, now living in Dumfries.
Collections include: Stravaigin (Canongate, then Luath Press) Burning Whins, The Shard Box (Luath Press, Edinburgh). Poetry and pamphlets include Past Presents, A Drunk Wumman Sits oan A Thistle, Anything You Say (a collaboration with Tasmanian artist Fiona Lee) and Cally Voices.. Public art collaborations include text in stone and wood in Galloway and schools across Dumfries & Galloway.
The author of Scots Dossier for European Bureau of Minority Languages (Mercator), she has edited a wide range of literature including New Writing Scotland (ASLS) and written Education resources for poetry and Scots language. A former teacher, Scots Language Development Officer and Cultural Co-ordinator.
Residences across Scotland include Island Poet-in-Residence based at Inverness Airport, funded by Loganair, subsequently televised as ‘Poet on a Plane’. She has participated in poetry readings in Europe, Finland, China and Australia’s Booktown in Clunes. Awards include McCash poetry prize, Saltire/TESS, SAC & Creative Scotland. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Scottish Literary Studies and convener of Scottish PEN’s Writers-in-exile committee. In 2024 she received the Scots Language Champion Award from Trad Arts.