Christine De Luca

Christine De Luca (; born 4 April 1947) is a Scottish poet and writer from Shetland, who writes in both English and Shetland dialect. From 2014 to 2017, she was Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate for the City of Edinburgh). Several of her collections have won awards or have been short-listed for awards. She is widely translated and has been involved in numerous translation activities. She is also an active collaborator with musicians and visual artists; and has been one of the Shore Poets for over 30 years, a group of poets who organise monthly poetry/music events in Edinburgh.

Early life and education De Luca was born Christine Pearson in Walls, Shetland and grew up in Walls. Her father, Sandy Pearson, was the headmaster of Happyhansel Junior Secondary School in Shetland. De Luca moved to Edinburgh in her late teens to study at University of Edinburgh. After graduation, she taught high school for several years and later obtained a master's degree in Educational Research in 1980.

Writing career De Luca's first three poetry collections were published by the Shetland Library. Her first collection, Voes and Sounds was published in 1994 and her second work, Wast Wi Da Valkyries, was published in 1997. Both collections won the Shetland Literary Prize. A third collection, 'Plain Song', was published in Shetland and Edinburgh in 2002. De Luca's work has been translated into several languages, including French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, and Welsh. Also published in 2016 by Black and White Publishing are two Julia Donaldson books, translated by De Luca: Da Trow (The Troll) and The Shetland Gruffalo's Bairn, (The Gruffalo's Child).

Theatre De Luca read the role of Elspa, Symon's wife, in The Merchants o Renoun presentation of Allan Ramsay's The Gentle Shepherd staged at the Netherbow Theatre, Edinburgh, on Thursday 26th and Saturday 28 November 1998.

Selected publications

Poetry Collections 1997, Wast Wi Da Valkyries, The Shetland Library, poetry collection 1994, Voes and Sounds, The Shetland Library, poetry collection 2002, Plain Song, The Shetland Library, poetry collection 2004, Drop's in Time's Ocean, Hansel Cooperative Press, pamphlet 2005, Parallel Worlds, Luath Press, poetry collection 2010, North End of Eden, Luath Press, poetry collection 2014, Dat Trickster Sun, Mariscat Press, pamphlet 2017, Edinburgh Singing the City, Saltire Society, poetry collection 2021, Veeve, Mariscat Press, poetry collection 2021, The Art of Poetry & Other Poems, Hansel Cooperative Press, Selected poems by Eugénio de Andrade (Portuguese) with versions in English (A Levitin) and Shetlandic 2025, Vod – Abandoned Crofthouses in Shetland, forthcoming from The Shetland Times, Lerwick, Shetland (with photographs) 2018 Paolozzi at Large in Edinburgh – Artworks and Creative Responses (with Carlo Pirozzo), Luath Press Ltd, Edinburgh 2022, Another Time, Another Place, The Scottish Gallery, 12 paintings by Victoria Crowe, with 12 poems 2025 Something of the Marvellous – with artist Brigid Collins – forthcoming from Luath Press, Edinburgh

Bilingual volumes of poetry

2007, Mondes Parallèles Translated from English and Shetlandic by Jean-Paul Blot, éditions fédérop, poetry collection 2015, Questo sole furfante (with Francesca Romana Paci), Nuova Trauben, Turin, Italy – translated collection 2017, Glimt av opphav/ Glims o Origin, Ura Forlag, Selected bilingual, Shetlandic with Norwegian versions by Odd Goksøyr 2020, Northern Alchemy, Patrician Press, Selected bilingual, Shetlandic with English versions 2022, Tutto è Percezione, (with Francesco Romana Paci and artist Victoria Crowe), Ludo Edizioni, Italy 2024, Whit ails, whit heals – Ce qui afflige, ce qui apaise (with Jean-Yves Le Disez), Francis Boutle Publishers, London – New & Selected

Fiction 2011, And Then Forever, The Shetland Times, novel 2022, The Trials of Mary Johnsdaughter, Luath Press Ltd, Edinburgh

Children’s storybook

2005, Smootie comes ta Lerrick, Hansel Co-operative Press, Orkney

Translations of storybooks for children

2008, Dodie’s Phenomenal Pheesic, Hansel Co-operative Press, Orkney 2016, The Shetland Gruffalo’s Bairn, Itchy Coo with Black & White Publishing Ltd, Edinburgh 2022, Da Peerie Prince, Edition Tintenfass, Germany

Awards and recognition 2014, appointed Edinburgh's Makar, (2014—2017) 2014, shortlisted for Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets, for Dat Trickster Sun 2007, International Book Fair in Ouessant, poetry prize, for Parallel Worlds, poems translated from English and Shetlandic 1999, Shetland Literary Prize for Wast Wi Da Valkyries 1996, Shetland Literary Prize, for Voce and Sounds