Neil Aitken

Neil Aitken (born 1974 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian poet, editor, and translator. He founded Boxcar Poetry Review. His first book, The Lost Country of Sight, won the 2007 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry.

Biography

Early life and education Aitken was born in Vancouver in 1974 and was raised in Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Canada, and the United States. His father was of Scottish and English descent and his mother was of Chinese descent. He had a younger sister. As an undergraduate, he studied Computer Engineering with a minor in Mathematics.

Literature career Aitken's first book, The Lost Country of Sight, won the 2007 Philip Levine Prize. In 2016, he published Babbage’s Dream, a semi-finalist for the Anthony Hecht Prize. He founded Boxcar Poetry Review. Aitken and Chinese poet-translator Ming Di translated The Book of Cranes: Selected Poems of Zang Di. In 2011, Aitken was awarded the DJS Translation Prize for "his translations of contemporary Chinese poetry."