Poetry collection launch is dream come true for ‘rebel’ Cork woman

IF you ever feel like throwing in the towel, you could do worse than track down Cork poet Catherine Ronan.

Her first poetry collection entitled Elemental Skin was recently published by Revival Press and she is well on her way to completing her second.

“This is a dream come true for me. I can’t believe it, and if anything can be drawn from my experience, it’s that the only person with the power to end your dream is yourself.”

Catherine started writing poetry at the age of nine. She remembers the day perfectly.

“I bought a spiral notebook in the Douglas Shopping centre, what is now Tesco. It was pink with white sneakers on it. I was so thrilled with myself and scribbled down my first poem.”

She laughs on reciting her debut creation:

“My jeans are dirty I have no others.

I’d wear some clean ones if they’d been washed by my mother.”

The budding poet adored English in school and was told by her teacher in Regina Mundi, Mrs Collins, that she had an ‘uncanny’ aptitude for the subject.

She read everything from Black Beauty to The Famous Five and was perhaps influenced by her great- grandfather’s passion for writing doggerel, comic verse with an irregular rhythm.

ENERGY

Catherine is full of positive energy and she is also keenly aware of energy in a broader sense.

“This is really what this collection is about. As somebody said to me recently ‘There’s a bang of the pagan off it’. I love ritual and ceremony. 

I think we are far more powerful than we remember. We have lost a lot of the knowledge that made us powerful once, but we’re getting it back.

The poet says she told the local priest at the age of 16 that she’d had enough of the church, and believed in personal faith instead.

“I believe in telepathy and connectiveness. I’ve been called a fire pixie, and I’ll take it. I’ve been called a visionary poet, a rock star poet - I’ll take all of them!

Catherine says there is a great deal of sexual energy in her collection, and indeed there is, along with humour, added to a few sparks of magic and beautiful delineations of characters from throughout her life.

She adds: “My second collection is flying it, and it’s going to be hot!”

There is little that passes Catherine’s lips that isn’t positive, although she does warn against ignoring our own energy and the energy of others.

There are times when I won’t see particular people because I don’t have the energy for them. I like them very much but I gauge my energy because it’s very important.

She also warns against looking backwards too often and it has certainly been full steam ahead for Catherine.

“Drive on, that’s what I say. This book is the culmination of six years’ work and I am so delighted with it. You have to keep moving forward.”

Indeed, her writing trajectory has moved in one direction only, building over the years to where she is now.

“I was always writing. Throughout my twenties, it was part of my bait in catching my husband!” she says with another cheeky smile.

“When we married and I was with my young children, I wrote through it all. I’d stop hoovering halfway through to jot down a line.”

It was in 2018 that she really started working on her poetry with a degree of intensity. She joined the Millbrook writing group in Bandon, where she now lives.

“That’s when I seriously started immersing myself in the poetry scene. In 2019, I did a wonderful course with Matthew Geden. Then I went back to UCC to Adult Continuing Education, where I completed two courses with poet Paul Casey.

“I also did a Myth and Magic course with Dr Jenny Butler. She was fabulous.”

POSITIVITY

Always the optimist, Catherine even manages to put a positive spin on Covid.

“The best thing for my poetry was Covid because local became global and global became local. I was on poetry zoom every night of the week, bar Saturday. On Mondays I had Blue Mondays; Tuesdays the Milbrook writers met; Wednesday was the poetry collective with Matthew Geden; Thursday was Lime Square Poets; then there was First Fridays, and on Sunday, Cultivating Voices.”

Catherine is beyond delighted with the success of her collection to date.

It has been hugely successful. It went to re-print within five weeks. I have been very well supported by other poets and libraries, who are great customers.

“It helps that I am involved in so many poetry collectives. Poets are great at supporting other poets.”

Catherine describes the vibrant poetry scene in Cork, referring to herself as a rebel girl from the rebels’ county.

“There is so much going on. There’s Slingslang in Maureens, Prose and Woes in Liberty Bar and then there’s John Horan who runs a podcast.”

She is quick to mention Ó’Bhéal too, run by Paul Casey, above The Long Valley bar on Winthrop Street on the second Monday of every month.

CATHERINE’S MANTRA

“I have a mantra. God loves a trier. He must adore me!”

She is keen to share this determination with others.

“The real message in my story is to believe in lifelong learning, not to give up on your dreams, just because you’re middle-aged. Children, homes, these things don’t end your dreams, you do. A lot of people feel they reach a certain age and have to give up. It’s never too late.

I find such joy in writing and you can write at any age. It’s not like I’m a gymnast; writing is ageless.

Catherine’s collection has been nominated by her publisher for the Pigott Poetry Prize which is awarded during Listowel Writers’ Week.

Her work was also highly commended in the Munster Literature’s Fool for Poetry Competition.

Her book will be launched in Cork City Library on February 24, at 4pm, where it will be on sale for €15.

“ What I’m doing is good for my children – a good example that their mother is out there living a dream.

“I’m all about forgetting how old you are and concentrating on who you are.”

Elemental Skin is available to purchase from Revival Press online and in local bookshops.