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Cathy Ford was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan and grew up in northern B.C. She has a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia. She has worked as a poet and fiction writer, publisher, editor, and teacher. She was President of the League of Canadian Poets in 1985 and 1986, and was a founding member of the League's Feminist Caucus in 1982. From 1984 to 1986 she was a member of a national task force of Women and Words, working to create a draft constitution for a Canadian association of Women and Words. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Literary Storefront from 1980 to 1982. Ford lived for 18 years on Mayne Island before moving to Sidney B.C. She is married, with one son.
By 2014, she had published fifteen books of poetry and numerous chapbooks and folios, including poetry, long poems, fiction and memoir that were published by blewointment press, Intermedia Press, Caitlin Press, Véhicule Press, Harbour Publishing, gynergy books, Mother Tongue Publishing and others.
In her latest work, Flowers We Will Never Know the Names Of (Mother Tongue Pub. $18.95) Cathy Ford marks the 25th anniversary of Montreal's L'école Polytechnique massacre in a long poem written in the language of flowers and an alphabet re-imagined. It is a memento of love amid violence and loss.
Selected Publications
Stray Zale (blewointment press, 1975).
Blood Uttering (Intermedia Press, 1976)
Canadian Short Fiction Anthology, Volume One Intermedia Press, 1976). Editor.
Tall Trees. (blewointment press, 1977).
The Coffee Lover's Handbook (Intermedia, 1979). With Dona Sturmanis. Non-fiction.
the murdered dreams awake. (Caitlin Press, 1979, 1981).
The Womb Rattles its Pod. (Véhicule Press, 1981).
Affaires of the Heart. (Harbour Publishing, 1982).
By Violent Means. (blewointment press/Nightwood Editions, 1983).
The Desiring Heart. (Caitlin Press, 1985).
Saffron, Rose and Flame: The Joan of Arc Poems. (Gynergy Books, 1989).
the art of breathing underwater (Mother Tongue Publishing, 2011) $19.95 978-1-896949-09-3. Introduction by Jane Munro
Flowers We Will Never Know the Names Of (Mother Tongue, 2014) $18.95 978-1-896949-48-2
Chapbooks:
Angels & Sharks, or Looking for Robert (erosisarose press, 1993).
The Pariah Dress (erosisarose press, 1994).
The Little Black Dress Series (erosisarose press, 1995).
Sexing the Angels (chapbook). (erosisarose press, 1996).
A Murder of Crows, poem for mayday. (The Word is Out Press, 1996).
Cunnilingus, or How I Learned to Love Figure Skating. (Mothertongue Press, 1997).
[BCBW 2014]
By 2014, she had published fifteen books of poetry and numerous chapbooks and folios, including poetry, long poems, fiction and memoir that were published by blewointment press, Intermedia Press, Caitlin Press, Véhicule Press, Harbour Publishing, gynergy books, Mother Tongue Publishing and others.
In her latest work, Flowers We Will Never Know the Names Of (Mother Tongue Pub. $18.95) Cathy Ford marks the 25th anniversary of Montreal's L'école Polytechnique massacre in a long poem written in the language of flowers and an alphabet re-imagined. It is a memento of love amid violence and loss.
Selected Publications
Stray Zale (blewointment press, 1975).
Blood Uttering (Intermedia Press, 1976)
Canadian Short Fiction Anthology, Volume One Intermedia Press, 1976). Editor.
Tall Trees. (blewointment press, 1977).
The Coffee Lover's Handbook (Intermedia, 1979). With Dona Sturmanis. Non-fiction.
the murdered dreams awake. (Caitlin Press, 1979, 1981).
The Womb Rattles its Pod. (Véhicule Press, 1981).
Affaires of the Heart. (Harbour Publishing, 1982).
By Violent Means. (blewointment press/Nightwood Editions, 1983).
The Desiring Heart. (Caitlin Press, 1985).
Saffron, Rose and Flame: The Joan of Arc Poems. (Gynergy Books, 1989).
the art of breathing underwater (Mother Tongue Publishing, 2011) $19.95 978-1-896949-09-3. Introduction by Jane Munro
Flowers We Will Never Know the Names Of (Mother Tongue, 2014) $18.95 978-1-896949-48-2
Chapbooks:
Angels & Sharks, or Looking for Robert (erosisarose press, 1993).
The Pariah Dress (erosisarose press, 1994).
The Little Black Dress Series (erosisarose press, 1995).
Sexing the Angels (chapbook). (erosisarose press, 1996).
A Murder of Crows, poem for mayday. (The Word is Out Press, 1996).
Cunnilingus, or How I Learned to Love Figure Skating. (Mothertongue Press, 1997).
[BCBW 2014]
Articles: 2 Articles for this author
The Art of Breathing Underwater
Article
The Art of Breathing Underwater by Cathy Ford (Mother Tongue $19.95)
Cathy Ford's first collection in twenty-one years is dense on the page, dense in associations and references. The many subjects include the disappearance of women and of species, fertility, Hiroshima, mothers, grandmothers, northern rivers, Mary Magdalene, Toronto, facial reconstruction, the Carmanah, and stalkers.
It's only a slight exaggeration to say that many of these topics might occur on one thickly worded page. In short, this is serious stuff. The middle section is a long poem in forty-five sections loosely centered on the highly original textile art of Kubota's kimonos. Perhaps an illustration of these textured silk works of art would have been helpful for some readers to better relate to the poems.
This volume will reward the reader who takes time to read slowly. Its general tone is one of elegiac reverence suggested by particulars. At 114 pages, it contains more depth than some poets manage in a dozen books.
978-1-896949-09-3
Review by Hannah Main- van der Kamp
[BCBW 2011]
Flowers We Will Never Know the Names Of (Mother Tongue, $18.95)
Article (2014)
Iin her latest work, Flowers We Will Never Know the Names Of (Mother Tongue, $18.95) Cathy Ford marks the 25th anniversary of Montreal's L'école Polytechnique massacres in a long poem written in the language of flowers and an alphabet re-imagined. It is a momento of love amidst violence and loss.
Cathy Ford was president of the League of Canadian Poets in 1985 and 1986, and was a founding member of the League's Feminist Caucus in 1982. From 1984 to 1986 she was a member of a national task force of Women and Words, working to create a draft constitution for a Canadian association of Women and Words. She was also a member of the board of directors of the Literary Storefront from 1980 to 1982.
978-1-896949-48-2
