Don Paterson was born in Dundee in 1963, and works as a musician, poet and editor, and currently lives in Kirriemuir. He has written a number of award-winning collections of poetry. His first, Nil Nil (1993) was awarded the Forward Prize for best first collection. His second, God's Gift to Women (1997), was awarded the Geoffrey Faber Award and the TS Eliot prize. His version of Machado's The Eyes was published in 1999, and his most recent collection is The White Lie (2001). He has also written a number of plays for radio and theatre, including the Radio 4 series Kailyard Blues and the melodrama The Land of Cakes for Dundee Rep, the latter a collaboration with leading Scottish composer Gordon McPherson.