Dr Catherine Redford
@catherineredford.bsky.social
Poet | Researcher | Co-editor at Dust Poetry. Room 204 writer. Words in Magma, Under the Radar, Propel, The Storms, New Welsh Reader, Lighthouse, Atrium, Ink Sweat & Tears, etc.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing @fionasampson.bsky.social speak at The Hive this evening. Fiona will be discussing two of her biographies: the fabulous ‘In Search of Mary Shelley’ and her new biography of George Sand. Tickets are free, but need to be pre-booked.
November 19, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I’m very much looking forward to seeing @fionasampson.bsky.social speak at The Hive this evening. Fiona will be discussing two of her biographies: the fabulous ‘In Search of Mary Shelley’ and her new biography of George Sand. Tickets are free, but need to be pre-booked.
Some of my favourites from the Bodleian’s ‘Treasured’ exhibition: Mary Shelley portrait and manuscript; Jane Austen manuscript; and a burnt scroll from Herculaneum.
November 16, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Some of my favourites from the Bodleian’s ‘Treasured’ exhibition: Mary Shelley portrait and manuscript; Jane Austen manuscript; and a burnt scroll from Herculaneum.
What I’ve been reading over the past few days:
Robin Houghton’s astute insights into dieting, BMI, and body image in her beautiful handmade pamphlet ‘yo-yo’.
@robinhoughton.bsky.social
Robin Houghton’s astute insights into dieting, BMI, and body image in her beautiful handmade pamphlet ‘yo-yo’.
@robinhoughton.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 1:15 PM
What I’ve been reading over the past few days:
Robin Houghton’s astute insights into dieting, BMI, and body image in her beautiful handmade pamphlet ‘yo-yo’.
@robinhoughton.bsky.social
Robin Houghton’s astute insights into dieting, BMI, and body image in her beautiful handmade pamphlet ‘yo-yo’.
@robinhoughton.bsky.social
I loved ‘What We Can Know’, the new novel from Ian McEwan. It’s a work of speculative fiction rooted in the concerns of our own age and manages to be so many different stories all at once. Academic meditations run parallel with tales of love and lust, brutal crime intertwined
November 4, 2025 at 1:21 PM
I loved ‘What We Can Know’, the new novel from Ian McEwan. It’s a work of speculative fiction rooted in the concerns of our own age and manages to be so many different stories all at once. Academic meditations run parallel with tales of love and lust, brutal crime intertwined
We didn’t have poetry books in the house when I was growing up, but as a child I used to get the same battered copy of The New Dragon Book of Verse out of the library again and again. There were so many poems in there that I loved,
October 31, 2025 at 2:06 PM
We didn’t have poetry books in the house when I was growing up, but as a child I used to get the same battered copy of The New Dragon Book of Verse out of the library again and again. There were so many poems in there that I loved,
I’m a big fan of the art and writing of the Bloomsbury Group, but I’ve never had the chance to visit Charleston. This book was a brilliant introduction to the house and its gardens, particularly as many of the notes are written by the late Quentin Bell,
October 30, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I’m a big fan of the art and writing of the Bloomsbury Group, but I’ve never had the chance to visit Charleston. This book was a brilliant introduction to the house and its gardens, particularly as many of the notes are written by the late Quentin Bell,
I devoured this compelling novella in a single sitting. Hannah Lutz’s ‘Wild Boar’ (trans. from Swedish by Andy Turner) is dark, poetic, and unsettling. I loved the layers of voices all responding in different ways to the illusive wild boar as they move beyond the forests.
@theemmapress.bsky.social
@theemmapress.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 10:23 AM
I devoured this compelling novella in a single sitting. Hannah Lutz’s ‘Wild Boar’ (trans. from Swedish by Andy Turner) is dark, poetic, and unsettling. I loved the layers of voices all responding in different ways to the illusive wild boar as they move beyond the forests.
@theemmapress.bsky.social
@theemmapress.bsky.social
Does anyone else of a certain age find it impossible to walk through a park at this time of year without humming ‘Autumn days when the grass is jewelled / And the silk inside a chestnut shell’..?
October 21, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Does anyone else of a certain age find it impossible to walk through a park at this time of year without humming ‘Autumn days when the grass is jewelled / And the silk inside a chestnut shell’..?
Cup of tea and the latest TLS on a Saturday morning. I enjoyed Seamus Perry’s excellent article on Plath’s ‘Ariel’ at sixty; it’s always good to be reminded of Plath’s original intentions for the collection. In her version, the final line declares that ‘The bees are flying. They taste the spring.’
October 11, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Cup of tea and the latest TLS on a Saturday morning. I enjoyed Seamus Perry’s excellent article on Plath’s ‘Ariel’ at sixty; it’s always good to be reminded of Plath’s original intentions for the collection. In her version, the final line declares that ‘The bees are flying. They taste the spring.’
I received not one, but two book-related gifts completely out of the blue yesterday! My husband got me this sweet little Faber tote, then I received a parcel from his parents containing a lovely stack-of-books Christmas tree decoration. Apparently they saw it and thought of me; I can’t imagine why 😂
October 10, 2025 at 8:53 AM
I received not one, but two book-related gifts completely out of the blue yesterday! My husband got me this sweet little Faber tote, then I received a parcel from his parents containing a lovely stack-of-books Christmas tree decoration. Apparently they saw it and thought of me; I can’t imagine why 😂
It’s been great to spend some time today with Mark Ward’s stunning ekphrastic pamphlet ‘Masters’, ahead of its online launch this evening. This is one of the pamphlets that I helped to select for publication as part of The Emma Press’s BERG initiative,
October 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
It’s been great to spend some time today with Mark Ward’s stunning ekphrastic pamphlet ‘Masters’, ahead of its online launch this evening. This is one of the pamphlets that I helped to select for publication as part of The Emma Press’s BERG initiative,
I’ve had a lovely, creative afternoon catching up on the Form and Ideas workshop led by @katrinanaomipoet.bsky.social and hosted by the Women Poets’ Network. I ended up using Hans Christian Andersen to write a golden shovel, as you do.
September 19, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I’ve had a lovely, creative afternoon catching up on the Form and Ideas workshop led by @katrinanaomipoet.bsky.social and hosted by the Women Poets’ Network. I ended up using Hans Christian Andersen to write a golden shovel, as you do.
I really loved ‘How to Leave a Body’, the powerful and startling debut collection from Holly Winter-Hughes. These poems confront both trauma and strength head-on; they are dark, visceral, and incredibly beautiful.
@vervepoetrypress.bsky.social
@vervepoetrypress.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 9:37 AM
I really loved ‘How to Leave a Body’, the powerful and startling debut collection from Holly Winter-Hughes. These poems confront both trauma and strength head-on; they are dark, visceral, and incredibly beautiful.
@vervepoetrypress.bsky.social
@vervepoetrypress.bsky.social
Brilliant evening seeing Evie Hodgetts - current Worcestershire Young Poet Laureate - heading at Dear Listener. Evie’s set was fantastic; she’s definitely one to watch!
September 18, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Brilliant evening seeing Evie Hodgetts - current Worcestershire Young Poet Laureate - heading at Dear Listener. Evie’s set was fantastic; she’s definitely one to watch!
It’s lovely to be able to share my poem ‘Her Worldly Goods’, which won 3rd place in the Kathryn Bevis Memorial Poetry Prize and has been published in issue 16 of The Alchemy Spoon.
September 12, 2025 at 11:57 AM
It’s lovely to be able to share my poem ‘Her Worldly Goods’, which won 3rd place in the Kathryn Bevis Memorial Poetry Prize and has been published in issue 16 of The Alchemy Spoon.
Late summer / early autumn fields. Sunshine, the last of the blackberries, and the first conkers of the season.
September 6, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Late summer / early autumn fields. Sunshine, the last of the blackberries, and the first conkers of the season.
Well, this novel was an emotional rollercoaster! ‘The Safekeep’ by Yael van der Wouden is an intimate, compelling portrait of two women whose lives become intertwined in more ways than one. It’s beautifully written and I enjoyed it immensely; I’m not surprised it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
September 4, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Well, this novel was an emotional rollercoaster! ‘The Safekeep’ by Yael van der Wouden is an intimate, compelling portrait of two women whose lives become intertwined in more ways than one. It’s beautifully written and I enjoyed it immensely; I’m not surprised it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Today’s #sealeychallenge read has been the gorgeous ‘Rescue Lines’ by @elcurwen.bsky.social. I was completely drawn in by these poems of loss and rescue, which are framed by the risk and comfort of the sea 💙
August 30, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Today’s #sealeychallenge read has been the gorgeous ‘Rescue Lines’ by @elcurwen.bsky.social. I was completely drawn in by these poems of loss and rescue, which are framed by the risk and comfort of the sea 💙
The wonderful Mary Shelley was born on this day in 1797. Here’s one of my poems that was published earlier this year in Magma (issue 91), in which I imagine us bonding over our shared experience of young widowhood.
August 30, 2025 at 8:21 AM
The wonderful Mary Shelley was born on this day in 1797. Here’s one of my poems that was published earlier this year in Magma (issue 91), in which I imagine us bonding over our shared experience of young widowhood.
I was delighted to win third prize in the Kathryn Bevis Memorial Poetry Prize recently. My poem, ‘Her Worldly Goods’, has been published in the new issue of Alchemy Spoon, which is launching online at 7.30 this evening. Tickets are free - it would be lovely to see you there!
August 29, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I was delighted to win third prize in the Kathryn Bevis Memorial Poetry Prize recently. My poem, ‘Her Worldly Goods’, has been published in the new issue of Alchemy Spoon, which is launching online at 7.30 this evening. Tickets are free - it would be lovely to see you there!
I was delighted to win third prize in the Kathryn Bevis Memorial Poetry Prize recently. My poem, ‘Her Worldly Goods’, has been published in the new issue of Alchemy Spoon, which is launching online at 7.30 this evening. Tickets are free - it would be lovely to see you there!
August 29, 2025 at 1:48 PM
I was delighted to win third prize in the Kathryn Bevis Memorial Poetry Prize recently. My poem, ‘Her Worldly Goods’, has been published in the new issue of Alchemy Spoon, which is launching online at 7.30 this evening. Tickets are free - it would be lovely to see you there!
It would have been my wife Rebecca’s 40th birthday today. Her birthday is always a sad day, but I try to make it a celebration of her life as well. If you knew Rebecca, I’d love it if you raised a glass (or cup of tea) in her memory today ❤️
August 27, 2025 at 8:20 AM
It would have been my wife Rebecca’s 40th birthday today. Her birthday is always a sad day, but I try to make it a celebration of her life as well. If you knew Rebecca, I’d love it if you raised a glass (or cup of tea) in her memory today ❤️
Another re-read for the #sealeychallenge - this time, the wonderful ‘Collision’ by @clairewalkerpoetry.bsky.social. I’m a sucker for a fossil poem, and this pamphlet has a whole little sequence about Mary Anning!
August 25, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Another re-read for the #sealeychallenge - this time, the wonderful ‘Collision’ by @clairewalkerpoetry.bsky.social. I’m a sucker for a fossil poem, and this pamphlet has a whole little sequence about Mary Anning!
I loved these brilliant, razor-sharp poems from @kimmoorepoet.bsky.social - one of my favourite #sealeychallenge reads so far.
August 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
I loved these brilliant, razor-sharp poems from @kimmoorepoet.bsky.social - one of my favourite #sealeychallenge reads so far.
My latest #sealeychallenge read has been Paviland: Fire and Ice by @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social - a fascinating exploration of the Red Lady of Paviland. Through a combination of prose and poetry, Smith tells the story of this amazing archaeological find and imagines what the future might hold for it.
August 21, 2025 at 12:51 PM
My latest #sealeychallenge read has been Paviland: Fire and Ice by @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social - a fascinating exploration of the Red Lady of Paviland. Through a combination of prose and poetry, Smith tells the story of this amazing archaeological find and imagines what the future might hold for it.