About

About Lizzie

Scottish wild swimmer, singer, poet, and mother. Lizzie’s first poetry collection Mermaid on Legs came out with Indigo Dreams in 2020.

Born in Scotland, she was brought up by the seaside in St Andrews. Going on to Cambridge University to study literature, she then ended up working in Japan, Switzerland, and England. Along the way she has sung some very high notes, climbed several scary mountains and diced with death, diving in Thailand.

She now lives in Edinburgh with her husband, two children and a dog. As well as being a writer, she is a teacher of English literature of 20 years standing.

Awards

WWF COP26 2021 online exhibition included poem on snowdrops, Batter On

Collection Half of you is Missing commended in 2021 Geoff Stevens Memorial Prize

Poetry collection competitions: Highly Commended in Indigo Dreams and Culpepper’s Remedy 2019 for Mermaid on Legs

Prize winner in Huddersfield Literary Festival for poem Snowdrops on permanent display in the poetry trail at Beaumont Park, 2016

Longlisted for National Poetry competition 2017 for poem Caul Again

Shortlisted and commended in various poetry competitions, including Anthology, York Literary Festival, Wolverhampton Literature Festival, E H P Barnard Poetry Prize, Sandwich Festival, Binsted Arts Festival, Hammond House, Poetry Kit, Lord Whisky, Earlyworks and Sentinel Quarterly 2016-2022

Poetry readings at York Literary Festival, Huddersfield Literary Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival

Poems printed in anthologies, including Earlyworks 2019, Wolverhampton Literature Festival 2019, Sandwich Festival 2019, Binsted Arts Festival 2019, Hammond House 2018, 2019 and 2023, Shepton Mallet 2019, Barn Owl Trust 2020, World Wildlife Trust for COP26 in 2020, Planet in Peril 2019 and Voices for the Silent 2022. Online publication with York Literary Festival and Sentinel Quarterly.

About Mermaid on Legs (Indigo Dreams 2020)

Living close to the seaside is an inspiration for Lizzie’s poetry. In her debut collection, the persona of a mermaid speaks out and gives a fresh perspective, from the fringes of society. This half-creature lives in the oceans, where life is dying. Cast in the body of a woman, the mermaid can experience joy, as well as suffer. In some poems, we catch the figure of a selkie before a shape-shift. With one flick of a tail, there is a quick escape. The swimmer weaves in and out of the poems, often at sea, sometimes on legs, on land. As the collection progresses, we learn more of the nature of what she finds on earth. Take a dip!

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