Karen McCarthy Woolf explained

Birth Place:	London, England
Occupation:	Poet

Karen McCarthy Woolf (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. 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.

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 focussed 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.^[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]

Selected publications

Authored

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

Edited

• Bittersweet: Contemporary Black Women's Poetry (1998, The Women's Press,)
• Ten: The New Wave (2014, Bloodaxe Books,)
• Ten: Poets of the New Generation (2017, Bloodaxe,)
• Unwritten : Caribbean Poems after the First World War (2018, Nine Arches Press,)

External links

• • "Karen McCarthy Woolf In conversation with Forward Arts Foundation"
• Interview with Karen McCarthy Woolf by The Poetry Extension

Notes and References

1. Web site: Margaret Busby Presents: New Daughters of Africa Part of Get Up Stand Up Now. Somerset House. 9 September 2019. 17 August 2021.
2. Lowe . Hannah. Hannah Lowe . 2018 . Inside the Frame: Women Writers and the Windrush Legacy . . 33 . 2 . 6–8 . 10.1080/02690055.2018.1431094 . 166076679 . Taylor & Francis Online.
3. Web site: Karen McCarthy Woolf . Bloodaxe Books . 9 April 2021.
4. Web site: Catalogue record for thesis . Jisc Library Hub Discover . 28 September 2023.
5. PhD. At the Centre of the Edge: Contemporary Ecological Poetry and the Sacred Hybrid . Royal Holloway, University of London . 28 September 2023.
6. Web site: 28 August 2016. TCW 1. The Complete Works Poetry. 1 June 2021 . en.
7. Web site: Forward Alumni 1992-Present . Forward Arts Foundation . 28 September 2023.
8. Web site: Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize – shortlist . poetrysociety.org.uk . The Poetry Society . 28 September 2023 . 19 October 2015.
9. News: Rumens . Carol . Carol Rumens's best poetry books of 2017 . 28 September 2023 . The Guardian . 3 December 2017.
10. News: Rumens . Carol . Poem of the week: Outside by Karen McCarthy Woolf . 9 April 2021 . The Guardian . 25 December 2017 . en.
11. News: Young . Nina . UCLA's newest poet-in-residence to explore intersection of storytelling and law . 9 April 2021 . Daily Bruin . 29 October 2019.
12. Web site: In Company with New Daughters of Africa. Joanne C.. Hillhouse. Joanne C. Hillhouse. Jhohadli. 8 October 2018.
13. Web site: Second Place . Laurel Prize for Poetry in Association with Poetry School . 9 April 2021.
14. Web site: National Poetry Competition . poetrysociety.org.uk . The Poetry Society . https://web.archive.org/web/20210331055526/https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/national-poetry-competition/ . 31 March 2021 . 25 March 2021.
15. Web site: 'Read forensically': A National Poetry Competition interview with Karen McCarthy Woolf . poetrysociety.org.uk . The Poetry Society . 2020. 9 April 2021.
16. Web site: MA Creative & Life Writing . Goldsmiths, University of London . 22 May 2024 . en . Other tutors include: Karen McCarthy Woolf.
17. Web site: McCarthy Woolf, Karen . Royal Society of Literature . 22 May 2024.