John is also the author of a collection of short stories, Burning Elvis (2000), and several novels, including The Dumb House (1997), The Devil's Footprints, (2007), Glister, (2009) and A Summer of Drowning, (2011). His 2011 collection, Black Cat Bone, was awarded The Forward Prize and the T.S. The Light Trap (2001) was also shortlisted for the T. Other poetry collections include Common Knowledge (1991), Feast Days (1992), winner of the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, and The Asylum Dance (2000), winner of the Whitbread Poetry Award and shortlisted for both the Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) and the T. His first collection of poetry, The Hoop, was published in 1988 and won a Scottish Arts Council Book Award. A former computer software engineer, he has been a freelance writer since 1996. He studied English and European Thought and Literature at Cambridge College of Arts and Technology. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book ( Black Cat Bone). He is one of only two poets (the other being Sean O'Brien) to have won both the T. Renowned for the grittiness and realism of his books, John has won many awards for his writing and poetry. It was only when Alex got talking to John that he realised he had read, and was a big fan, of his writing. Alex was actually on the installation and didn't connect that it was John since Johns wife had ordered his garden studio. John Burnside is an acclaimed author who now does all his writing in a Booths Garden Studio.

Waking up in toytown