photo © Marc Marnie
Described by Michael Symmons Roberts and Ambit magazine as a poet to watch, Andrew Philip was chosen by the Scottish Poetry Library as a “New Voice” in 2006. His chapbook, Tonguefire, was published by HappenStance Press in 2005, followed by Andrew Philip: A Sampler in 2008. His poetry has appeared in various publications, including Chapman, Lallans, New Writing Scotland, The Rialto, The SHOp and the US magazine Sou’wester. His poem “A Rough Guide to Monday Morning” was featured on a Scottish Book Trust National Poetry Day postcard in 2002. His Scots versions of the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke have featured in Lallans and in the anthology The Smoky Smirr o Rain (Itchy Coo, 2003). His adaptation of an excerpt of Blind Harry’s “The Wallace” into contemporary Scots — commissioned and broadcast by Radio Scotland — was included in The Wallace Muse (Luath, 2005).
In 1999-2000, Philip ran the Scottish Poetry Library’s Holyrood Poetry Link Scheme, which linked up members of the newly elected Scottish Parliament with contemporary Scottish poets. He compiled and edited Variations on a new song (Scottish Poetry Library, 2000), a pamphlet of poems that resulted from the project.
Philip is a former member of the well-known Edinburgh collective Shore Poets and currently poetry adviser for Linlithgow Book Festival. A seasoned and engaging reader of his work, he has performed throughout the UK — from London to Orkney — including an appearance at the StAnza international poetry festival in St Andrews.
Andrew Philip was born in Aberdeen in 1975 and raised near Falkirk. He lived in Berlin for a short spell in the 1990s, an experience which, in part, led him to study linguistics at Edinburgh University. He works part-time for the Scottish Parliament’s equivalent of Hansard and lives in Linlithgow with his wife and daughter.
His blog, Tonguefire, can be found at http://www.andrewphilip.net
His book ‘The Ambulance Box’ is available from salt publishing
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