The inaugural Disabled Poets Prize winner of the Best Unpublished Pamphlet, Katharine Moss, has launched her first pamphlet The Still Point. Part of Katherine’s prize included seeing her pamphlet published by Verve Poetry Press. The team behind the Disabled Poets Prize, including us at Spread the Word, and Jamie Hale of CRIPtic Arts, are thrilled that Katherine’s pamphlet is now available to buy.
The Still Point explores the intersection of truth and mythology within family history with a particular interest in the Irish Diaspora, examining Katherine’s own life as a disabled woman and mother, drawing on nature to weave the personal and political.
‘Eliot refers to ‘the still point’ in his poem, Burnt Norton. I recognise this as an effect upon the poet’s audience, how words can devastate the intentional reader and how I strive towards achieving this ‘stillness’ in in my own writing.’ – Katherine Moss
‘In The Still Point, Katherine brings the reader into the centre of her craft, holding them in the flood of images and narratives swirling through the work. Historically illuminating and poetically luminous, this is a pamphlet that is both settled and restless, weaving political and personal references into a coherent whole. Stylistically bold and experimental, lyrically gentle, and softly searching, these poems cross a breadth of experience and life which welcomes, haunts, and questions the reader. From the first read, these poems were striking, and the pamphlet was a clear and exceptional winner of the first Disabled Poets Prize.’ – Jamie Hale
‘In today’s tumultuous world, The Still Point by Katherine Moss is a calming evocative set of poems that take the reader on journeys through time and place. Polyvocal in sound, contained within are poignant poems about familial Irish heritage, parenthood, and global history. Dazzling with imagery and metaphor of the natural world, there is an assuredness to the variety of poetic forms, all employed with vivid imagination. A wonderful winning pamphlet of the Disabled Poets Prize, 2023.’ – Peter Raynard
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katherine Moss is a recent graduate of The Manchester Writing School. Her poetry explores the intersection of truth and mythology within family history with a particular interest in the Irish Diaspora. Katherine’s work also examines her own life as a disabled woman and mother. Her poem ‘St Francis’ Satyr’ was published in the journal Consilience in October 2022. In October 2020 her monologue, Linda’s Shield was produced by The Garrick Theatre in an online performance. In 2022 she was awarded the Dr Lee Kai Hung Postgraduate Bursary for her poetry and spoken word project on the life experiences of UK residents of Chinese and British descent.
You can find Katherine’s pamphlet on the Verve Poetry Press website: vervepoetrypress.com/product/katherine-moss-the-still-point-preorder-out-nov-23/?v=79cba1185463
You can listen to an interview with Katherine, or read the transcript, here: spreadtheword.org.uk/interview-with-katherine-moss-winner-of-the-disabled-poets-prize-2023/
The Disabled Poets Prize 2024 was open for entries in Autumn 2023. The results will be announced at a special online event as part of Deptford Literature Festival on Saturday 16 March 2024. More information, including how to book tickets, will be available on Spread the Word’s website and via our social media channels in late January 2024.
Published 27 November 2023