Catching Light: Poems

In these poems, Kathryn Stripling Byer searches for the language of ageing, for a way of confronting every woman's fear of looking in the mirror and seeing an old woman staring back. Inspired by a series of photographs entitled "Evelyn", which depicts a former artist's model in her declining years, still full of life and facing death with flair and wit - these poems contemplate the enigmatic, but inevitable, process of growing old. Byer opens her book with a ten-poem sequence, "In the Photograph Gallery". " 'Who is she?' / a child hanging on to her mother's skirt / asks, as if she is frightened / by what she sees. 'Just a little old lady,' her mother soothes / 'That's all she is.'" By placing Evelyn herself in the gallery to respond to the photos and hear that exchange, Byers opens the door into the inner life of this "little old lady". Part Two moves into more personal, mythological territory as the images of Evelyn and the poet's own recollections coalesce. The final section draws closer to Evelyn's dark hour, her humour in the face of death, her memories, her acknowledgement of her sexuality, her letting go.

The author is the author of four poetry collections, including "Black Shawl" and "Wildwood Flower", winner of the Lamont Poetry Prize.