Sally Read
Sally Read (born 1971 in Suffolk[1]) is a British poet and writer and former psychiatric nurse.[2]
Early life and education
[edit | edit source]Sally Read attended Tavistock Comprehensive School. She received a BA from Open University and then an MA from the University of South Dakota.[3]
Work and awards
[edit | edit source]Read shared the Eric Gregory Award in 2001.[4] Her first collection, The Point of Splitting, was shortlisted for the Jerwood-Aldeburgh First Collection prize. A selection of her works, Punto di Rottura, is also available in Italian.[5] Her poems have been anthologized in numerous volumes, including "Roddy Lumsden's Identity Parade [6] and Forward's Poems of the Decade.[7] Read's first collection of poetry since her conversion, Dawn of this Hunger took first place for poetry at the Catholic Media Association Awards in 2022. [8] She has also written for the Times Literary Supplement, The Catholic Herald, The Tablet, The Humanum Review and Magnificat among other periodicals and papers. Read has also published two memoirs: Night's Bright Darkness (2016) (see below) and The Mary Pages (2024), which was awarded best biography in the 2025 Association of Catholic Publishers awards.[9] Read's book Annunciation was the subject of a short film [10] for EWTNGB by Norman Servais and Kevin Turley. She is editor of Word on Fire's 100 Great Catholic Poems (Nov 2023)
Religious and personal life
[edit | edit source]A lifelong atheist, Read converted to Catholicism in 2010.[11][12] She wrote a book about her conversion experience, Night's Bright Darkness.[13]
Read was poet in residence from 2011-2021 at The Hermitage of the Three Holy Hierarchs, which is an eparchial-rite form of consecrated life under the jurisdiction of Bishop Bryan Bayda, the Eparch of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon.[14] Fr. Gregory Hrynkiw, of the group, played a role in her conversion. Read's role in the hermitage continues, as a member.
Read lives with her husband and daughter (Celia Florence, to whom her book “Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World” is dedicated) in Santa Marinella.[14]
Works
[edit | edit source]- The Point of Splitting (Bloodaxe Books, 2005)
- Broken Sleep (Bloodaxe Books, 2009)
- The Day Hospital (Bloodaxe Books, 2012)
- Night's Bright Darkness: A Modern Conversion Story (Ignatius Press, 2016) (Translated into Polish, Slovenian, Slovakian and Czech)
- Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World (Ignatius Press, 2019)
- Dawn of this Hunger (Angelico Press, Second Spring, 2021)
- 100 Great Catholic Poems (Word on Fire, November 2023), edited and commentary by Read
- The Mary Pages (Word on Fire, 2024)
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Interview in City Desert
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- ^ Bloodaxe Books Author Page Archived 20 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
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- ^ Birmingham City University
- ^ "Identity Parade" (Bloodaxe, 2012)
- ^ "Poems of the Decade" (Forward 2011)
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- ^ The Mary Pages forthcoming from Word on Fire.
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- ^ ABC.Net Emotions and Beliefs
- ^ Catholic News Agency
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External links
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