Harry Josephine Giles

Harry Josephine Giles
Born1986 (age 39–40)
Occupation
  • Poet
  • writer
  • singer
Education
Website
harryjosephine.com

Harry Josephine Giles (born 1986)[1] is a Scottish writer, singer[2] and poet who previously lived in Orkney. In 2022, she won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for their novel Deep Wheel Orcadia.[3]

Biography

Giles was brought up in Orkney and currently[when?] lives in Edinburgh.[4] She obtained a Master of Arts degree in Sustainable Development from the University of St Andrews in 2009, and another MA in Theatre Directing from the East 15 acting school.[5] In 2020, she successfully defended a PhD thesis at the University of Stirling.[6] Her supervisors were Kathleen Jamie and Scott Hames.[7]

In March 2020, Giles was one of 100 poets and writers who signed an open letter to the Scottish Poetry Library after the library declined to censure Scots feminist poets who did not recognise transgender people and their rights.[8]

Writing career

Giles became widely known after winning the 2009 BBC poetry slam[9] and has won or been shortlisted for other poetry awards since.[10] In particular, two volumes of poetry, Tonguit (2015) and The Games, were shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award. Tonguit was also shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection.[11] In October 2010, Giles co-founded Inky Fingers, a poetry and spoken-word performance collective in Edinburgh, that claimed in 2020 to be Edinburgh's oldest open-mic night still running.[12]

In 2021, Giles published a verse novel called Deep Wheel Orcadia.[13] It won the 2022 Arthur C. Clarke Award.[14] It was also longlisted for the Highland Book Prize, but Giles withdrew it in protest against the all-white longlist.[15]

Personal life

Giles identifies as non-binary.[16]

Works

  • Visa Wedding (2013); Pamphlet
  • Oam (2014); Pamphlet
  • Farmform (2014); Series of postcards, website
  • Drone (2014); Sequence
  • Tonguit (2015); Collection
  • Casual Games for Casual Hikers (2015); Art print
  • Funding a Ritual (2015); Pamphlet
  • Raik (2015); Game
  • 14 Ways To Reread a Favourite Novel (2016); Pamphlet
  • Casual Games for City Walkers (2016); Art print, website
  • Trump/Pattinson (2017); Pamphlet, website
  • Travellers' Lexicon (2017); Artbook, website
  • New Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (2018); Pamphlet, website
  • The Games (2018); Book
  • Some Definitions (2019); Zine
  • Stim (2019); Zine
  • Moon, Sun, and All Things (2019); Zine
  • Wages for Transition (2019); Zine
  • Deep Wheel Orcadia (2021); Novel
  • Them (2024); Poems

References

  1. ^ "Harry Josephine Giles - Poet". Scottish Poetry Library. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Fit to Work". Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  3. ^ Shaffi, Sarah (26 October 2022). "Arthur C Clarke award goes to 'thrilling' verse novel by Harry Josephine Giles". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Harry Josephine Giles (poet) - United Kingdom - Poetry International". www.poetryinternational.org. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  5. ^ "About". Harry Josephine Giles. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  6. ^ Giles, Harry Josephine (2020). Writing Orkney's Future: Minority Language and Speculative Poetics (PhD thesis). University of Stirling. hdl:1893/31226. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Dr Scott Hames". University of Stirling. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  8. ^ Flood, Alison (5 March 2020). "Transphobia row leaves Scottish poetry scene in turmoil". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Giles". StAnza, Scotland's Poetry Festival. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Harry Josephine Giles (poet) - United Kingdom - Poetry International". www.poetryinternational.org. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Harry Josephine Giles - Poet". Scottish Poetry Library. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  12. ^ "History". Inky Fingers : Words and Performance. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  13. ^ Kelly, Stuart (15 October 2021). "Book review: Deep Wheel Orcadia, by Harry Josephine Giles". www.scotsman.com. The Scotsman. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  14. ^ Shaffi, Sarah (26 October 2022). "Arthur C Clarke award goes to 'thrilling' verse novel by Harry Josephine Giles". the Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  15. ^ Merritt, Mike (10 January 2022). "Author Harry Josephine Giles pulls novel from Highland Book Prize as a protest against all-white shortlists". The Times. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  16. ^ Harry Josephine Giles [@HJosephineGiles] (24 May 2022). "The funniest part of this is that I am non-binary, I just don't tell officials I'm non-binary, because who needs that hassle?" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via Twitter.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Josephine_Giles