Sally Read (born 1971 in Suffolk[1]) is a British poet and writer and former psychiatric nurse.[2]

Early life and education

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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

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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 a memoir, Night's Bright Darkness (2016) (see below) with a further memoir The Mary Pages forthcoming from Word on Fire.[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

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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 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

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  • 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 (forthcoming from Word on Fire)

References

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  1. ^ Interview in City Desert
  2. ^ Chohan, Rhia (8 September 2009). "Poets Give Chapter and Verse on Caring". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. ^ Bloodaxe Books Author Page Archived 20 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Society of Authors page on past winners of the Eric Gregory Trust Fund Awards". Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  5. ^ Birmingham City University
  6. ^ "Identity Parade" (Bloodaxe, 2012)
  7. ^ "Poems of the Decade" (Forward 2011)
  8. ^ https://www.catholicmediaassociation.org/userfiles/uploads/2022_Book_Program_List-CMA_Website.pdf
  9. ^ The Mary Pages forthcoming from Word on Fire.
  10. ^ "Annunciation, a Call to Faith in a Broken World". YouTube. 5 February 2022.
  11. ^ ABC.Net Emotions and Beliefs
  12. ^ Catholic News Agency
  13. ^ Romanowsky, Zoe (12 November 2016). "Former Atheist Psychiatric Nurse Now Calls Herself 'Eucharistic'". Aleteia. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  14. ^ a b "About Us". The Asketerion: The Journal of the Hermitage of the Three Holy Hierarchs. 2014. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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