Karen McCarthy Woolf

Karen McCarthy Woolf
Born1966 (age 58–59)
London, England
Alma materRoyal Holloway, University of London
OccupationPoet
Websitewww.mccarthywoolf.net

Karen McCarthy Woolf FRSL (born 1966)[1][2] is a poet of English and Jamaican parentage.[3]

Early life and education

Karen McCarthy Woolf was born in London to English and Jamaican parents.[1] Her father emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1957 as a part of the Windrush generation, and her experience and identity as a mixed-race woman has informed her poetry.[2]

She has a PhD (2018) from Royal Holloway, University of London: her thesis title was At the centre of the edge : contemporary ecological poetry and the sacred hybrid, and it focused on the work of Louise Glück, Kei Miller and Joy Harjo[4][5]

Writing career

McCarthy Woolf was mentored on The Complete Works poets of colour mentoring scheme initiated by Bernardine Evaristo to redress representational invisibility.[6]

McCarthy Woolf's 2014 book An Aviary of Small Birds was shortlisted for the 2015 Best First Collection award of the Forward Prizes for Poetry[7] and the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize,[8] and chosen as an Observer poetry book of the month.[9]

The poem "Outside" from her Seasonal Disturbances was chosen by Carol Rumens as "Poem of the Week" in The Guardian in December 2017.[10]

In 2019, McCarthy Woolf was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar and appointed as poet-in-residence at University of California, Los Angeles.[11] She is a contributor to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.[1][12]

McCarthy Woolf won second place in the 2020 Laurel Prize for her collection Seasonal Disturbances.[13]

In 2021 she was one of the judges of the 2020 National Poetry Competition.[14][15]

McCarthy Woolf teaches on the MA in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths University.[16]

She was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022.[17]

McCarthy Woolf was nominated for the 2024 T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, alongside Raymond Antrobus, Carl Phillips, Gboyega Odubanjo, Rachel Mann and others.[18]

Selected publications

Authored

  • The Worshipful Company of Pomegranate Slicers (2006, Spread The Word, ISBN 9780954008321)
  • An Aviary of Small Birds (2014, Carcanet Press, ISBN 9781906188146)
  • Seasonal Disturbances (2017, Carcanet, ISBN 9781784103361)
  • Top Doll (2024, Dialogue Books, ISBN 9780349703459)

Edited

References

  1. ^ a b c "Margaret Busby Presents: New Daughters of Africa | Part of Get Up Stand Up Now". Somerset House. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b Lowe, Hannah (2018). "Inside the Frame: Women Writers and the Windrush Legacy". Wasafiri. 33 (2): 6–8. doi:10.1080/02690055.2018.1431094. S2CID 166076679 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
  3. ^ "Karen McCarthy Woolf". Bloodaxe Books. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Catalogue record for thesis". Jisc Library Hub Discover. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  5. ^ At the Centre of the Edge: Contemporary Ecological Poetry and the Sacred Hybrid (PDF) (PhD). Royal Holloway, University of London. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  6. ^ "TCW 1". The Complete Works Poetry. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Forward Alumni 1992-Present". Forward Arts Foundation. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize – shortlist". poetrysociety.org.uk. The Poetry Society. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  9. ^ Rumens, Carol (3 December 2017). "Carol Rumens's best poetry books of 2017". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  10. ^ Rumens, Carol (25 December 2017). "Poem of the week: Outside by Karen McCarthy Woolf". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  11. ^ Young, Nina (29 October 2019). "UCLA's newest poet-in-residence to explore intersection of storytelling and law". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  12. ^ Hillhouse, Joanne C. (8 October 2018). "In Company with New Daughters of Africa". Jhohadli.
  13. ^ "Second Place". Laurel Prize for Poetry in Association with Poetry School. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  14. ^ "National Poetry Competition". poetrysociety.org.uk. The Poetry Society. 25 March 2021. Archived from the original on 31 March 2021.
  15. ^ "'Read forensically': A National Poetry Competition interview with Karen McCarthy Woolf". poetrysociety.org.uk. The Poetry Society. 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  16. ^ "MA Creative & Life Writing". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 22 May 2024. Other tutors include: Karen McCarthy Woolf
  17. ^ "McCarthy Woolf, Karen". Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  18. ^ Creamer, Ella (1 October 2024). "TS Eliot prize for poetry shortlist contains 'a strong strain of elegy'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2024.