Poet Paterson wins Queen’s honour

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Don Paterson was honoured with an OBE in 2008

Scottish poet Don Paterson has been awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, Buckingham Palace has said.

The writer won the award for his anthology Rain, which collected the 2009 Forward Prize for Poetry.

Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, who chaired the judging panel, said Paterson’s work was "poetry of bravery and conviction".

The medal, which was established in 1933, recognises excellence in poetry published in the last year.

‘Beguiling’

Previous recipients of the honour have included Sir John Betjeman, Ted Hughes, WH Auden and Stevie Smith.

Duffy added that Paterson’s writings were "acutely attuned to the most intimate of human exchanges, rendered with a formal grace, a moving candour and a beguiling cadence.

"These poems are a witness and a guide to our most precious moments, achieving in two decades of work what few manage so well in a lifetime," she added.

Dundee-born Paterson published his first anthology 16 years ago and has gained a reputation as a "must-read" poet.

His previous works have picked up a string of prestigious accolades, including 2003′s Landing Light, which won both the TS Eliot and Whitbread prizes for poetry.

He was awarded the OBE in 2008.