St Andrews University lecturer and poet celebrates ‘life changing' global prize
A lecturer at the University of St Andress is one of eight winners of one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world.
Poet Karen Solie is a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize worth $175,000 - an award she described as “life changing.”
The Windham-Campbell Prizes recognise eight writers each year for literary achievement across four categories – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama - with annual prize money exceeding $1.4m.
Solie grew up on her family farm in Saskatchewan, Canada, and, over her decades-long career, has published six books of poetry, including, most recently, the T.S. Eliot Prize-winning collection Wellwater (2025), The Caiplie Caves (2019), and The Road In Is Not the Same Road Out (2015).
A 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award from the Canada Council for the Arts (2016), Solie is a Reader in Creative Writing at St Andrews.
She said: “It's taking awhile for this news to sink in! I am deeply grateful for this life–changing honour.”
Solie was one of two poets honoured by the anonymous judges. They said of her work: “Through precise, profound, and wry plainspeaking verse, Karen Solie locates and interrogates the human apprehension of the world of things.”
The prizes were the brainchild of lifelong partners Donald Windham and Sandy M. Campbell. The couple were deeply involved in literary circles, collected books avidly, read voraciously as well as penning various works.
For years they had discussed the idea of creating an award to highlight literary achievement and provide writers with the opportunity to focus on their work independent of financial concerns. When Campbell passed away unexpectedly in 1988, Windham took on the responsibility for making this shared dream a reality. The first prizes were announced in 2013.
Michael Kelleher, director of the Windham-Campbell Prizes, said: “The Windham-Campbell Prizes champions literary achievement across writing disciplines; the financial security that comes in the form of the $175,000 grant gifts recipients with the time, space and creative freedom to think, write and nurture their talent.
“The arts are facing more challenges now than ever before. It is an honor, therefore, to celebrate this year’s recipients and ensure that the world will continue to enjoy their works for many years to come.”