Jane Draycott was born in London and is the author of eight collections of poetry and poetic translation, including No Theatre (Smith/Doorstop, Forward Prizes shortlist) and Prince Rupert's Drop (Forward Prize for Best Collection shortlist), Over (T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist), and The Occupant (PBS Recommendation), all from Carcanet Press. A 2004 Next Generation poet, her several awards include a Stephen Spender Prize for her Carcanet translation of the medieval dream-elegy Pearl . She teaches on postgraduate writing programmes at the universities of Oxford and Lancaster.