Doctor's Dictionary

“Bamforth’s work is rich in perceptual acquaintance, making it not only intelligent but also extremely sensual. To read him makes the patterns of our minds richer.” –Guardian“I like his rigour and his epigrammatic flair … he is original despite himself.” –Robert Nye, Scotsman“This collection is a joy to read, full of so much nuance, and persuasive language, a permanent wistfulness that never strays into the twee and the constant sense of travel, of movement and growth.” –Matt Macdonald, Scottish Review of Books, on The Crossing Fee

Iain Bamforth grew up in Glasgow and graduated from its medical school. He has pursued a peripatetic career as a hospital doctor, general practitioner, translator, lecturer in comparative literature, and latterly public health consultant in several developing countries, principally in Asia. His four books of poetry were joined by a fifth, The Crossing Fee, in 2013. His prose includes The Body in the Library (Verso, 2003), an account of modern medicine as told through literature; and The Good European (Carcanet, 2006), a collection of writings on ideas and literature in European history. He is currently working on a collection of aphoristic, fantastic and philosophical stories about medicine conjointly with a book of impressions of Wallacea - the biogeographical name for the various archipelagos between Asia and Australia. Several of his wide-ranging essays and reviews can be read on his website.