Another Word for Home is Blackbird by Catherine Wilson Garry
Heather Parry: “These are poems that talk of grief with hope, of home with a sense of adventure, of the future with determination. Catherine is an enormously exciting new voice on the Scottish literary scene; what a joy to see her fly.”
Nadine Aisha Jassat: “Beautiful and complex poems which powerfully explore grief and belonging, and find deep meaning grounded in the everyday. Another Word For Home Is Blackbird Is as intricate and gentle as a the wings of the birds which fly through its pages, Wilson Garry’s words and attention lifting up each poem and setting them free to soar.”
In Another Word for Home is Blackbird, Catherine Wilson Garry examines the nature of solace and escapism from grief and loss. Through retracing her personal losses, people-watching, magpies and olive oil offer small moments of transformational joy. Objects and belongings are also given a poetic power: binoculars, shoes, books and flowers help bring the deceased back to life – both in memory and on the page. Wilson Garry explores grief and loss on a wider, political scale, including examinations of climate change, industrial action, isolation – advocating for a world where happiness thrives.
Catherine Wilson Garry is a spoken word poet and writer based in Edinburgh. Her work has been published by Extra Teeth, Gutter and The Scotsman. She has also been commissioned by the University of Edinburgh, StAnza Poetry Festival, and the British National Gallery. In 2022, she was shortlisted for the Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer Award.
In 2018, she represented Scotland at Transpoesie Festival in Belgium, where her work was displayed across Brussel’s public transport system, as well as having her digital poetry project “Homefound” shown at the Public Poetry Festival, U.S.A. and Poetry Arsenal in Ukraine.
Outwith her own writing, she has hosted poetry events including Soapbox open mic from 2015-2017, Scotland’s largest poetry slam across 2015-2016, and Push the Boat Out Festival’s open mic, Rock the Boat, since 2021. She is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio Scotland as one of their reviewers on the Tuesday Afternoon Show with Janice Forsyth.
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