[2][3] After graduation, Polley worked in various jobs, eventually landing the position of poet-in-residence at the Cumberland News in Carlisle.
The book was published in 2009 by Picador UK and went on to win the 2010 Somerset Maugham Award and was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize.
[7] Polley partnered with director Ian Fenton as co-writer on two short films, Flickerman and the Ivory-Skinned Woman (2002) and Keeping House (2015).
[7] Jackself, Polley's fourth collection of poetry, published in 2016 by Picador UK, won the prestigious T. S. Eliot Prize in 2016.
[7] In 2017, Polley collaborated with Dutch musicians, Strijbos and Van Rijswijk, to make 'To Travel and to Matter' - a poetry and sound installation project for the Lake District.