Liz Niven is a poet based in Dumfries. A former teacher, currently parttime Cultural Co-ordinator for Creative Writing in D&G schools, she was DGAA's Writer-in-Residence for three years.
A widely published poet and Scots language specialist, her poetry and language-related work include publications in the U.K., the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and forthcoming projects in Austria. She has undertaken several poetry commissions, such as installations for the River Cree in Galloway that are engraved in granite, wood, and sandstone and can be viewed along the River Cree walk as well as in Cree Lines. She has recently completed a series of commissioned poetry for Highland and Island Airports for which she flew on all ten island routes. The poems are published in Flights with Altitude, and extracts are currently displayed on banners in Inverness Airport. A television documentary about this commission, "Poet on a Plane," will be broadcast on STV and Grampian television in 2004.
She has received two Scottish Arts Council Writer's Bursaries (1996 & 2003). In 2003, she was awarded joint first prize in the Herald/Glasgow University McCash poetry competition for a Chinese poem based upon her travels to the Far East. Her most recent collection is Stravaigin (Canongate), and she has delivered readings and workshops throughout Britain and has appeared at many festivals and arts events.
