Kathryn Gray is a Welsh poet.

Biography

Kathryn Gray was born in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 1973 and grew up in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

. She studied German and Medieval Studies at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

and the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

. Gray's first poetry collection, ''The Never-Never'', was published in 2004 by

Seren Books Seren Books is the trading name of Poetry Wales Press, an independent publisher based in Bridgend, Wales, specialising in English-language writing from WalesFelicity Wood (23 August 2013). Rhyme and reason: The poetry market is a notoriously diffic ...

. She was shortlisted for the

T. S. Eliot Prize The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize for poetry awarded by the T. S. Eliot Foundation. For many years it was awarded by the Eliots' Poetry Book Society (UK) for "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or t ...

and the

Forward Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

for best first collection for her work. Gray published the poetry

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

, ''Flowers'' in 2017. Her work has appeared in several literary journals, including the ''Times Literary Supplement'', the ''Independent'', the ''Poetry Review'' and ''Poetry Wales''. A second full collection, ''Hollywood or Home'', was published by Seren Books in

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after Januar ...

2023 and was a ''Sunday Times'' Poetry Book of the Yea

Gray has taught poetry at the Poetry School,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, and Patricia Cumper is ...

. She is a former director of

Literature Wales Literature Wales, formerly named the Academi, is the Welsh national literature promotion agency and society of writers, existing to promote Welsh-language literature, Welsh-language and Welsh literature in English, English-language literature i ...

and former Co-Chair of

The Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

. She was editor of ''New Welsh Review'' for three years. From 2012 to 2015, she was a researcher for the ''Devolved Voices'' literary research project, which was funded by the

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to cover ...

and investigated Welsh poetry in English since 1997. She currently co-edits the digital poetry journal
Bad Lilies
'' Gray lives in

Poetry

*''The Never-Never'',

, (2004) * ''Flowers'', Rack Press (2017) * ''Hollywood or Home,'' Seren Books (2023)

Awards

* (2001)

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by United Kingdom poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. Past winne ...

* (2004) Shortlisted for the

for best first collection, (2004) * (2004) Shortlisted for the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Kathryn 1973 births Living people 21st-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh writers 21st-century Welsh poets Writers from Swansea Alumni of the University of Bristol