Kathryn Gray

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Friday Poem – ‘Meryl Streep is my therapist’ by Kathryn Gray

An Oscar award hidden behind clouds of coloured smoke

Ahead of the Oscars Award Ceremony this weekend, this week’s Friday Poem is ‘Meryl Streep is my therapist’ by Kathryn Gray from her collection Hollywood or Home.

Meryl Streep is my therapist I met a married man once, on a train. He was handsome. He had the kind of face that made me think of clean, smooth hands. I should add that in the end nothing really happened. I have done terrible things I will not own. The dingo took my baby! Bear with me. Men have left me. No Vietnam. They simply went. You must hear this sort of thing all the time. But. I have stood, hooded, on the jetty; the sea—the sea turned over my mind, roughly. I have been very ‘tired and emotional’. I cannot afford a rehab facility. There are not enough Key lime pies in this world for all the people who deserve them. In the face. Yes, this is heartburn. You might be onto something. O Michael! O Michael! O Michael! I worry that I’m all cliché. I like to fake accents with strangers. I suppose that tells you a lot. I suffer from Imposter Syndrome. Or maybe not. I had a farm—

Join us on Saturday 9th March from 1pm for our John Ormond Centenary event, taking place at the Glynn Vivian Gallery in Swansea. Kathryn Gray will be appearing alongside Rian Evans, Patrick McGuinness, Jess Mookherjee, Professor M. Wynn Thomas and Kieron Smith to discuss the life and work of Welsh poet and documentary maker John Ormond. Buy tickets in advance via Eventbrite.

John Ormond Centenary Celebration. Saturday 9th March 1-4pm. Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Alexandra Road, Swansea, SA1 5DZ. General admission £5.50, Concession £3.50.
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Best Poetry of 2023 – round-up

Left to right: Rachel Carney, Kathryn Gray, Nerys Williams, Judy Brown

As the year draws to a close, several Seren poets and their recent collections have appeared on ‘Best of 2023’ lists. Here’s a round-up of Seren poetry collections currently grabbing the attention of reviewers:

This cover shows a photograph of a stone sculpture of a half-profile woman's face submerged beneath the waves. The text reads: Octopus Mind. Rachel Carney.

Octopus Mind | Guardian Best Poetry Books 2023

Rachel Carney’s debut poetry collection Octopus Mind has been featured in The Guardian as one of their Best Poetry Books of 2023.

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Hollywood or Home | Sunday Times Best Non-Fiction Poetry Books

Seren poet Kathryn Gray‘s latest collection Hollywood or Home has been listed in the Sunday Times as one of the 16 Best Non-Fiction Poetry books of 2023.

It was also selected by the London Review Bookshop as one of their Christmas 2023: Poetry titles.

Buy now
This cover shows an illustration of a woman wearing a yellow dress. She is walking down a pier surrounded by water. In the background there is lighting and a bare forest. The dress is drawn as if wind is blowing it to the left. On the right of the character is a figure in a shirt and dark trousers floating face down in the water. Hollywood or Home. Kathryn Gray. ‘‘Underpinning the comedy and satire... is a real pain at life’s jolts time’s realness” - Nick Laird.
This cover shows a colourful print of a woman dressed in a black hoodie with large bunny ears on the hood. She has dripping dark blue rings around her eyes and stands out against an acid yellow background. The text reads: Republic. Nerys Williams.

Republic | Sunday Irish Independent

Nerys Williams was featured in the Sunday Irish Independent Best Poetry Books of 2023 for her collection Republic, and was also chosen by two contributors to Wales Arts Review as 2023 recommendations.

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Lairs | London Review Bookshop

Lairs by Judy Brown was selected by London Review Bookshop bookseller John Clegg as one of his Poetry Books of the Year.

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This cover shows a 1950s style collage of a woman sitting in a field looking at a mysterious black orb. Red mountains stretch into the distance behind it. The text reads: Lairs. Judy Brown.
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Friday Poem – ‘Handsome Weeping Boy’ by Kathryn Gray

Black and white photographs of water droplets on a branch

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘Handsome Weeping Boy’ by Kathryn Gray from her highly anticipated second collection Hollywood or Home.

Handsome Weeping Boy I cannot cry. I have need of a handsome weeping boy. Handsome weeping boy. His tears are pear cultured pearls against his cheeks; he is in touch with his emotions; he leaks. Strap me to a chair. Freeze-frame the oxygen tank in Beaches. These days it is so hard to be authentic. Handsome weeping boy, I hear you. Your shoulders move beside me so gently—breeze caught by a tree! Debra Winger is dying again. Handsome weeping boy, with your handkerchief to stem the flow. The feels is what the kids call it now, and I— I am so full, I am running on empty. I cannot cry. I have need of a handsome weeping boy.

Join us on Tuesday 7th November at St John’s Waterloo in London for a joint book launch featuring Kathryn Gray, Lynne Hjelmgaard and Sue Hubbard. Readings start at 6:30pm. All welcome.

Joint book launch. Lynne Hjelmgaard, Kathryn Gray and Sue Hubbard. Tuesday 7th November from 6:30pm. Free entry. All welcome. St John's Waterloo, 73 Waterloo Road, London, SE18TY
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Friday Poem – ‘For a Foot’, Kathryn Gray

Friday Poem For a Foot Kathryn Gray

This week our Friday poem is ‘For a Foot’ by Kathryn Gray, taken from her 2004 debut collection, The Never-Never. 

Kathryn Gray The Never-NeverPropelling us from the rain-lashed back-streets and housing estates of Wales, to London, California and beyond, the poems of The Never-Never offer us unique tales of friendship, love and loss, of exile and the distant promise of home. Gray’s accessible style in which she combines playful and serious, allusive and direct with an intellectual wit, makes for an extremely readable collection.
In ‘For a Foot’, the speaker reminisces about a one-legged figure, fierce and ferocious, and the prosthesis that hid their lost limb, obscuring ‘What happens at the bare knuckle/ of life’.

 

For a Foot Kathryn Gray

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Never-Never is available from the Seren website: £7.99.

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