About Catherine
Catherine Redford is a poet, writer, editor, and researcher from the West Midlands.
Her Forward-longlisted debut poetry collection, The Way the Water Held Me (The Emma Press, 2026), explores the caring, grief, loss, and love experienced by a young widow.
A Magma Selected Poet, Catherine has also had poetry published in Under the Radar, Propel, New Welsh Reader, and Lighthouse. She is an editor at Dust Poetry magazine, a Nine Arches Press Dynamo Poet, and a Writing West Midlands Room 204 Writer.
Catherine has published widely on Romantic and Victorian literature, with a particular focus on Mary Shelley, post-apocalyptic texts, and the Gothic. She previously taught at the University of Oxford.
‘Catherine Redford is a luminous writer and her poems will touch your heart.’ (Liz Berry)
the way the
water held me
While newly married, with the couple expecting their first child, Catherine Redford's wife was tragically diagnosed with a terminal illness. The Way the Water Held Me is a mesmeric plunge into the caring, grief, loss and love experienced by a young widow.
Across poems of heartbreak and honesty, memory and mourning - and through unlikely companionship with a widowed Mary Shelley - Catherine Redford's debut collection is visceral, profound and alive with what it is to be human, to have lost and to find ways to continue to love.
Praise for The Collection
‘A beautiful, heartbreaking book that charts deepest grief and deepest love. Catherine Redford is a luminous writer and her poems will touch your heart.’
Liz Berry
‘Part elegy, part séance, part scream, this is a gorgeous wound and wonder of a book. Spiked with dark humour and the gothic shades of Mary Shelley, luminous with metaphor and experiment, The Way the Water Held Me bears witness to dark tides of grief and the irretrievable grammar of a shared love. It is essential, transformative reading.’
Fiona Benson
Readings & Workshops
Reading: Lyrical Mehfil, Bradford Literature Festival, 4 July 2026
Reading: In conversation with Ali Isaac and Catherine Redford, online with Opt Indie Books, 22 July 2026
Workshop: Sutton Coldfield Literary Arts Festival, 12 September 2026
Reading: Sutton Coldfield Literary Arts Festival, 12 September 2026
Reading: Oxford Poetry Library with Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, 19 September 2026
Workshop: Birmingham Literature Festival, 10 October 2026
SELECTED WORKS
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Selected Poet, Magma 91
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The Aftershock Review, Issue 3
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Lighthouse, Issue 30
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Craft of Care anthology
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Propel Journal, Issue 7
academic Research
Catherine has published widely on Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, H.G. Wells, post-apocalyptic literature (specifically that depicting the Last Man on Earth), and the Gothic.
She is the author of the Connell Short Guide to the Gothic, and her essays have been published in leading journals, including Romanticism and The Byron Journal, and in the Encyclopaedia of the Gothic (Wiley-Blackwell). She has also written articles for English Review, Issues in English, and The Conversation.
Catherine has reviewed for Romanticism, The Byron Journal, British Academy Review, The BARS Review, The Routledge Annotated Bibliography of English Studies, and La Questione Romantica.
She holds a BA from the University of Oxford and an MA and PhD from the University of Bristol. She has taught at the University of Oxford as a lecturer and a postdoctoral Fellow.
Catherine is a former British Academy Rising Star award holder. Her research has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Mentoring and Feedback
Catherine offers a range of poetry mentoring packages, from one-off sessions to longer-term arrangements. She is also available to give feedback on manuscripts of both pamphlets and full collections. Please get in touch to discuss your needs and for details of fees.
‘Working with Catherine has really helped me develop my pamphlet manuscript, taking poems that I felt were ‘pretty good’ to the next level. Her technical knowledge and wider understanding of the publishing industry have been super helpful when thinking about eventual publication. I would absolutely recommend working with Catherine!’
Former mentee
Contact
Catherine is available for teaching, mentoring, readings, workshops, and school and library visits.