Vicki Feaver

The poet Vicki Feaver moved to Scotland in 2000. She lives between Dunsyre, on the edge of the Pentlands, and a small flat on the Shore overlooking the Water of Leith. Her collection The Handless Maiden won a Heineman Award and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize; The Book of Blood was shortlisted for the Costa and Forward prizes. Her poem 'Judith' won the Forward Prize for the Best Single Poem. Her new collection I Want! I Want! explores themes of childhood and old age.

Praised by Deryn Rees Jones for "bringing areas of female sexuality and its taboos to the public imagination with brilliance, sensitivity and perfect control", her work is feminist but doesn't only appeal to women. William Scammell described it as "infused with a joyful eroticism" and Ted Hughes as "thin, beautifully etched ice - over such deep shocking water". Her poems have been much anthologised and she is an inspiring reader of her work. (Photo credit: Chris Park)