Sally Read is a poet and writer based near Rome, Italy. 

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​​​Originally training and working as a psychiatric nurse, Sally left the hospital wards of London and completed her MA in South Dakota USA. From there she moved to Sardinia and published her first collection of poems, "The Point of Splitting", with Bloodaxe Books in 2005. After moving to Rome, and becoming a mother, she went on to publish another collection of poems, "Broken Sleep", this time with a focus on motherhood as well as nursing. As Sally completed her third collection of poems, "The Day Hospital", she experienced a dramatic nine month conversion to Catholicism, and this is recounted in her best-selling  memoir "Night’s Bright Darkness" (Ignatius Press). A few years later she wrote "Annunciation, a Call to Faith in a Broken World", for her daughter. Sally's most recent book "The Mary Pages" is a literary memoir which focuses on the role of the Virgin Mary in her life, often through the medium of art. 

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The groundbreaking "100 Great Catholic Poems" (Word on Fire) is Sally's first anthology, and contains 100 commentaries, on poems both little known and classic, to make them fully accessible to readers.

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Sally's own poetry has been recorded for the UK’s Poetry Archive, and her work, in both poetry and prose, has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including, The Times Literary Supplement, The Independent on Sunday, The Manhattan Review, The Catholic Herald, The Picador Book of Love Poems, Poems of the Decade, Identity Parade, The Tablet, Magnificat, and the Word on Fire Bible. Sally’s work has been translated into five languages. She has also written lyrics for the sacred music of Paul Flynn. Sally’s most recent book of poems, "Dawn of this Hunger", is fruit of her association with the Monastery of the Three Holy Hierarchs in Saskatchewan, Canada.

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As a writer of twenty years who has always been honest in her searching and beliefs, Sally is aware that her first three poetry books, and her most recent five publications, come from very different periods of her life, and will appeal to vastly different readerships. However, the search for truth is evident throughout the body of Sally's work which continues to reflect her knowledge and experience of the sacred and profane. Sally is available for talks, workshops, and creative consultancy in schools and retreat centres. She also works with individual writers.

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Awards:

1st place in Biography, 2025 ACP Excellence in Publishing Award: The Mary Pages (Word on Fire)

1st place in Memoir, 2025 CMA Book Award: The Mary Pages (Word on Fire)

1st place in Poetry, 2024 CMA Book Award: 100 Great Catholic Poems (Word on Fire)

1st place in Anthology, 2024 CMA Book Award: 100 Great Catholic Poems (Word on Fire)

1st place in Poetry, 2021, CMA Book Award: Dawn of this Hunger (Angelico Press and Second Spring) 

Shortlisted, 2005, for the Jerwood-Aldeburgh prize for best first collection: The Point of Splitting (Bloodaxe Books)

Recipient, 2001, Eric Gregory Award, for promising poets in the UK under 30