Sally Read is editor of Word on Fire’s groundbreaking 100 Great Catholic Poems, and the award-winning author of her own collection of poetry, Dawn of this Hunger, plus three collections written prior to her conversion. Her poems have been recorded for the UK’s Poetry Archive, and her writing, in both poetry and prose, has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including The Times Literary Supplement, The Picador Book of Love Poems, The Tablet, and Forward’s Poems of the Decade. Sally's poetry has also been featured on BBC Radio, and episodes of her Radio Maria England show are available on Spotify.     

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The memoir Night's Bright Darkness recounts Sally's conversion from atheism to the Catholic faith, while her literary memoir, The Mary Pages, explores her lifelong relationship with the Virgin Mary.  Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World, is a meditation on the Annunciation written for her daughter. Sally’s first children’s book, Bell and the Joyful Mysteries, is just out from Word on Fire, and her singular poetry guide: The Secrets to Reading Poetry: Unlocking the Language of God is out in the Fall of 2026. 

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Originally training and working as a psychiatric nurse in London, Sally chased the muse to South Dakota, Sardinia, and Rome, where she now lives. Sally is available for talks, poetry workshops, and creative consultancy in schools and retreat centres. She has spoken at the Good News Conference (Minneapolis), the Angelico Project (Cincinnati), the University of St Thomas (St Paul), Xavier University (Cincinnati), Shakespeare and Company (Paris), the University of St Thomas' MFA program (Houston), the Oxford Literary Festival, St Patrick's (London), Lismullin Retreat Centre (County Meath), the Legion of Mary (Dublin), and the We Believe Festival (Birmingham, UK).  She also works with individual writers.​​

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Please note that Sally's books fall into two camps: her pre conversion poetry (her first three books) and the work following and including "Night's Bright Darkness". Readers are advised to be aware of a shift in focus and sensibility between these two camps, 

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Awards:

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

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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)

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

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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