Neil Aitken

Neil Aitken
Born 1974
Vancouver
Nationality Canadian
Occupation Poet, editor, and translator

Neil Aitken (born 1974 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian poet, editor, and translator. He founded Boxcar Poetry Review.[1][2] His first book, The Lost Country of Sight, won the 2007 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry.[3][4]

Biography

Early life and education

Aitken was born in Vancouver in 1974[5] and was raised in Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Canada, and the United States.[1][6] His father was of Scottish and English descent and his mother was of Chinese descent.[7] He had a younger sister.[7] He attended elementary and secondary school in Regina.[7] Throughout high school, he enjoyed painting.[8] As an undergraduate, he studied Computer Engineering with a minor in Mathematics.[7]

He worked as a computer games programmer for several years.[7] In 2004, he quit his position to study at the University of California, Riverside, where he earned an MFA.[7] He earned a PhD in Literature & Creative Writing from the University of Southern California.[9]

Literature career

Aitken's first book, The Lost Country of Sight, won the 2007 Philip Levine Prize.[3] In 2016, he published Baggage's Dream, a semi-finalist for the Anthony Hecht Prize.[9] He founded Boxcar Poetry Review.[1] Aitken and Chinese poet-translator Ming Di translated The Book of Cranes: Selected Poems of Zang Di.[9] In 2011, Aitken was awarded the DJS Translation Prize for "his translations of contemporary Chinese poetry."[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Neil Aitken". anhinga press. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  2. ↑ "2 Poets, 4 Questions: Q&A with Neil Aitken and Rumit Pancholi – Lantern Review Blog". www.lanternreview.com. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  3. 1 2 "Neil Aitken on Poets Cafe". Timothy Green. 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  4. ↑ "Reading & Discussion: Neil Aitken "The Sound of a Distant Engine: Writing Babbage & Lovelace into Poetry" – DigLibArts". diglibarts.whittier.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  5. ↑ "Neil Aitken - featured poets -- poeticdiversity.org". www.poeticdiversity.org. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  6. ↑ "September 2014 Neil Aitken". Thrush Poetry Journal. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "TCK TALENT: Neil Aitken, Computer Gaming Whiz Kid Turned Award-Winning Poet". The Displaced Nation. 2015-04-29. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  8. ↑ wpadmin. "Interview with Neil Aitken". Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Neil Aitken | Total Visits 376 | Have Book Will Travel". Have Book Will Travel. 2015-12-23. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
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