Robert Alan Jamieson was born in Lerwick on Up Helly Aa, 1958 and grew up in the crofting community of Sandness. He attended the University of Edinburgh as a mature student and subsequently held the William Soutar Fellowship in Perth. He was a co-editor of Edinburgh Review , 1993-98, and writer in residence at the universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, 1998-2001. Since then he has tutored creative writing at the University of Edinburgh.