Sally Read
Writer and Poet
Books: Poetry, Memoir, Spiritual, and Children's Fiction
CHILDREN'S FICTION: NEW RELEASE!
"Bell was 10 when her parents sent her away for the summer..." So begins the tale for poor Bell. But what happens in darkest Rome will lead to advcntures that will change her life...
"She didn't put it down all day. She read it in the car, on motorway stops, at bedtime, and finished it by next morning..." Mother of a first reader, aged 8.
A chapter book, with illustrations by Doris Shermadhi, for ages 6-13 (or 6-96).
LITERARY MEMOIR:
I am in awe at what Sally Read has given us in these pages. What an extraordinary journey she has been on, and she now takes us with her in her discovery—step by patient, even unsettling, step—to understanding the beauty and necessity of falling in love with the Mother of God. There’s humor, wit, honesty, vulnerability, poetry (yes!), and a profound understanding of Mary’s life entwined with God’s, and her radiant presence over the centuries, from Nazareth to Walsingham to Mexico City and a hundred other places. Reader, listen. You will come away changed, even transformed, by what you find in these pages.”
—Paul Mariani, University Professor of English Emeritus at Boston College
POETRY COLLECTION:
"Dawn of this Hunger" is a startling literary achievement. Nothing in the work of any contemporary poet prepares us for the impact of these poems. To the passion and exactness with which Sally Read evokes the story of the Incarnation-- from conception to resurrection--is added, in poem after poem, against all expectation, ways in which so many of the details of that story, both great and small, are found to be resonant with our own lives, our own fears and desires, our own hunger."
- Paul Murray OP
**UK customers can support independent press publishing by buying this collection direct from Second Spring **
SPIRITUAL WRITING:
There are so many captivating elements of Annunciation. Read, a poet, cannot assemble words without leaking beautiful stories. She shows the history of salvation playing out in every corner of every narrative of every soul. The fiat is a daily drama, a proclamation to be rendered repeatedly, incessantly. Her words on the experience of pregnancy and motherhood are in some ways more insightful than the modern images of science and biology, for she instills reverence and communion beyond the dual shock of awe and wonder.
--Catherine Godfrey-Howell, The Homiletic and Pastoral Review
POETRY ANTHOLOGY:
"The current Catholic literary revival takes a huge leap forward with this essential new book. "100 Great Catholic Poems" not only lives up to its ambitious title, but exceeds it. Editor Sally Read presents an arresting cross section of the best poems from antiquity to the modern age: then she adds a useful and engaging note for each selection. This anthology helps restore a lost legacy to the Church. Whether you are a student, a teacher, or a cardinal, you will want this book on your shelf."
--Dana Gioia, Former California Poet Laureate and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
MEMOIR:
Sally Read's story is the best and liveliest account of a converion for a generation. It is a story of divine grace as moving and unexpected as it is luminous and profound.
- Paul Murray OP, Angelicum University, Rome
Sally Read is a poet. She has published two volumes, won prizes, been lauded amongst the literati. This literary background shows in her memoir. Her writing is intelligent, gripping, and, of course, poetic. Her use of symbol and metaphor are as sharp as they are memorable. It was just eight lines into Night’s Bright Darkness that I grasped this was not the usual ‘conversion story’ – not that any two conversions are the same. This one starts in a London psychiatric hospital with a dead body.
The power of the book lies not just in the writing though, nor in its structure, which is, to some extent at least, engrossing non-linear storytelling. To read the book is to sense the author there in front of you, talking to you as if to an old and dear friend. She was wise to employ this tone. No conversion is encompassed simply by a movement from A to B, from this event to that event, culminating in the finale of baptism. Night’s Bright Darkness is an intricate mosaic of the writer’s inner world. It is also one of the most moving accounts of the awakening of faith that I have come across in quite some time.
--Kevin Turley, Catholic Exchange
POETRY COLLECTION:
....a powerful piece, cleverly constructed, which balances restraint against the violence, horror and despair of its subjects....It's exciting to encounter a volume which does something differently, yet does it so profoundly that the reader can admire the craft even as they are moved by the subject.
-Noel Williams, in North 50
"The Day Hospital" is of its kind a triumph. 'Found poetry'--yes. But it took an alert poet to recognise these poems in their day-clothes, and a poet of considerable sensitivity to handle them with such dexterity. And, indeed, with such modesty..... a poetic experience you won't forget.
- Carrie Etter, in Acumen
POETRY COLLECTION:
Read's poems are tight and controlled, but full of delicious descriptions and honest reflections. ..... It's a book built around a beautiful and unobtrusive architecture; presenting personal experience with honesty and emotion.
- Emily Hasler, in The Warwick Review
These poems are a joy; they are for thousands of mothers who will whisper 'yes' over and over again, as I did and they are for one particular child.
- Ann Drysdale, in Envoi
POETRY COLLECTION:
Direct, searing, and very very truthful
-Bonnie Greer
'The Point of Splitting' marks the debut of an accomplished writer, not only one to watch, but one to read now, for her wit, craft, and clear vision
- John Burnside