Immrama
Published in 1988, Immrama is an old Irish word meaning "voyages to islands", and many of its poems are journeys into the past or into a non-physical, spiritual dimension. Reviews spoke of "a sense of adventure, of going somewhere different" (Poetry Review) and "the exciting prospect of the future for a writer who clearly has so much more to say (The New Welsh Review).
Click on the Immrama book cover to see a poem from the book.
The Unexplored Ocean
The Unexplored Ocean was published in 1994. It took its title from a sequence in the voice of an 18th-century sailor who shares the voyages of Captain Cook. But again there were other voyages, into the past via her interest in archaeology, into personae like mediaeval monks and archers from the Wars of the Roses, and the voyage into another life. Reviews spoke of "rich tactile description" (Poetry Wales) and "an enviable clarity of intent, purpose and execution" (Poetry Review)
Click on the book cover to see poems from The Unexplored Ocean
Altered States has at its heart two sequences, one about an amnesiac's quest for his lost identity - or a new one - and Estuary Poems, dealing with the journey of the poet's ancestors from Ireland to Wales and their assimilation into a new life
Click on the book cover to see poems from Altered States
All these collections are published by Seren, 1st & 2nd Floors, 38-40 Nolton Street, Bridgend CF31 3BN, tel 01656-663018 or email
Catherine also has a new pamphlet out from Smith/Doorstop Books, called Folklore. This is a fascinating exploration of her long-standing interest in folk tales like the hero and his six magically gifted friends. The publisher's address is The Studio, Byram Arcade, Westgate, Huddersfield HD1 1ND and their web site is here. Go through the wishing-well to see a poem from the pamphlet.
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