“For a bird, especially for the more musically inventive, song is the defining characteristic, the primary way by which it knows itself and is known by others. To lose its species song is to lose not just its identity but some part of its presence in the world.”

Scottish writer

John Burnside was a Scottish writer, known for his poetry and for the recognition his work received in major literary prizes. He was one of four poets to win both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for a single collection, Black Cat Bone, in 2011. In 2023, he received the David Cohen Prize for his body of work.