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Otherwhere
Catherine Smith is known for her sexy, sassy and recklessly wise writing. This collection is as unpredictable as ever - including as it does the spaghetti harvest and the drought of 1976, vegetarian hangovers, horse-racing, teenage girls inhaling helium and cats brought in a case through customs.
82 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2012
About the author
Catherine Smith
10 books3 followersCatherine Smith is an award-winning poet and fiction writer; she has also written radio drama, (Jellybelly, broadcast May 2005). Her first short poetry collection, The New Bride, (Smith/Doorstop) was short-listed for the Forward Prize for Best Collection , 2001.
Her first full collection, The Butcher’s Hands (Smith/Doorstop) was short-listed for the Aldeburgh/Jerwood Prize and was a PBS Recommendation. It earned her a place, in 2004, as one of Mslexia’s ‘Top Ten UK Women Poets’ and as one of the ’Next Generation’ poets - ‘the most exhilarating new voices to have emerged in the last ten years’ (PBS/Arts Council). Her third book, Lip, (Smith/Doorstop) was short-listed for the Forward Prize, 2008.
Her most recent collection, Otherwhere, was completed with financial support from the ‘Grants for Arts’ scheme, Arts Council England.
Catherine’s short stories have been published extensively in the UK and have won both local and national prizes. Her first collection, The Biting Point, is is now out from Speechbubble Books.
Catherine teaches Creative Writing for the University of Sussex The Arvon Foundation and runs an enrichment group for teenager writers at Varndean 6th Form College in Brighton. Catherine is also a teacher at The Poetry School
Catherine has also mentored poets, both adults and teenagers - most recently Rowyda Amin as part of London's 'Spread the Word' initiative, which resulted in Ten, from Bloodaxe, an anthology of black and Asian poets.
Her first full collection, The Butcher’s Hands (Smith/Doorstop) was short-listed for the Aldeburgh/Jerwood Prize and was a PBS Recommendation. It earned her a place, in 2004, as one of Mslexia’s ‘Top Ten UK Women Poets’ and as one of the ’Next Generation’ poets - ‘the most exhilarating new voices to have emerged in the last ten years’ (PBS/Arts Council). Her third book, Lip, (Smith/Doorstop) was short-listed for the Forward Prize, 2008.
Her most recent collection, Otherwhere, was completed with financial support from the ‘Grants for Arts’ scheme, Arts Council England.
Catherine’s short stories have been published extensively in the UK and have won both local and national prizes. Her first collection, The Biting Point, is is now out from Speechbubble Books.
Catherine teaches Creative Writing for the University of Sussex The Arvon Foundation and runs an enrichment group for teenager writers at Varndean 6th Form College in Brighton. Catherine is also a teacher at The Poetry School
Catherine has also mentored poets, both adults and teenagers - most recently Rowyda Amin as part of London's 'Spread the Word' initiative, which resulted in Ten, from Bloodaxe, an anthology of black and Asian poets.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 21, 2020
I really enjoyed some of the poems in this collection. I thought 'Drought' was stitched together in a clever way. The word drought represents the dry, stale sweat of exam season and evokes the feeling of dread and anxiety most people get before assessments. 'Blobs' was my favorite for its original use of imagination -- it's very imaginative and real. The poem, like nearly all the others, is based on a memory, in this one, the memory is of sitting in the waiting room at the dentist, waiting for your mouth to numb so they can take that tooth out, fit braces or give you a filling. It was always a horrid experience but Catherine Smith turns it into a surreal moment. And I love the way she structures this poem by indenting every tercet, for example, every second-line is indented with the first letter opposite the ninth letter of every first line. It creates a beautiful rhythmic pattern throughout. In 'Daughters' we do not realize until the end the daughters do not exist and the speaker is meditating on what it would be like to have daughters. 'Blizzard' is wonderful. But 'Fall' was amazing, smith describes a fall in reverse. And 'Fireflies' has a James Joyce element about it for the fact the entire poem is one big sentence. When you're a creative writer yourself you realize how difficult these things are.
Most of the good poems are at the beginning of this collection. Unfortunately, a lot of the poems didn't give me much reactive feeling, some did but not the feeling I wanted. For example, 'The Poacher and the Hare' made me feel troubled, unsettled and it gave off a horrid aura. I wouldn't recommend reading it before bedtime. But the strength of the good poems gives this collection a positive aura, it's a collection stitched from past memories, repressed feelings, bitter desires, and what-ifs.
Most of the good poems are at the beginning of this collection. Unfortunately, a lot of the poems didn't give me much reactive feeling, some did but not the feeling I wanted. For example, 'The Poacher and the Hare' made me feel troubled, unsettled and it gave off a horrid aura. I wouldn't recommend reading it before bedtime. But the strength of the good poems gives this collection a positive aura, it's a collection stitched from past memories, repressed feelings, bitter desires, and what-ifs.
April 24, 2020
I loved this collection - the poems are both incisive and compassionate, and are also gripping in their emotional realism. Thoroughly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews