Waterman is Professor of Modern Literature and Creative Writing at
Nottingham Trent University, and co-edits the poetry pamphlet press New Walk Editions, with Nick Everett at the
University of Leicester. He is also a critic and reviewer, writing regularly for the
Times Literary Supplement,
PN Review, and other publications, and the author of several books of literary criticism. His poetry has been shortlisted for a Ledbury Forte Prize and a Seamus Heaney Prize, and has been made a PBS Recommendation. In addition to his four collections with Carcanet, his poems have appeared in the
New Statesman,
The Guardian,
The Financial Times, and various other magazines and newspapers, as well as a number of anthologies, including
The Best British Poetry and
The Forward Book of Poetry.
The Manchester Review wrote that 'Rory Waterman's first complete collection,
Tonight the Summer’s Over was much lauded, seen as "the best first collection for the past couple of years" and was a PBS recommendation. The splendidly titled
Brexit Day on the Balmoral Estate is a fine widening out of subject matter.' The
TLS, reviewing his second book, commended him for a 'seriousness of form and subject uncommon among his generation', and describes his work as 'subversive – and substantial.' His most recent collection,
Come Here to This Gate, was described as 'A wise and deeply satisfying collection' in
The Guardian. His critical essays have appeared in
Essays in Criticism,
English,
Poetry Review,
PN Review, and elsewhere, and a selection was published in 2024, in his book
Endless Present: Selected Articles, Reviews and Dispatches, 2010-2023. ==Books==