Shapcott, Jo (1953– )

English poet. She is the first person to have won the National Poetry Competition twice (1990 and 1991). Her first collection of verse, Electroplating the Baby (1988) won the Commonwealth Prize. Phrase Book (1992) further established her as an innovative poet. My Life Asleep (1998) won the Forward Poetry Prize.

Born in London, Shapcott spent most of her childhood in the USA and Ireland, where she studied at Trinity College, Dublin. She continued there as a foundation scholar 1974–79 and went on to study singing and music theory at the College of Music in Dublin. As a postgraduate, Shapcott studied at Oxford and Harvard universities. She also holds a diploma in education from Bristol University, England. She co-edited the anthology Emergency Kit (1996) and became poet-in-residence at the Proms in 2000, where the themes of belief, youth, and age were explored through poetry and music.