Ruth Carr

Ruth Carr (born 1953), also known as Ruth Hooley, is a Northern Irish writer.

A poet, Carr has edited several anthologies of writing by women, including the first anthology of Northern Irish women's literature. She has worked to promote the publication of writing by women and members of other underrepresented groups. Carr served as co-editor of the poetry magazine The Honest Ulsterman for 15 years.

Early life and education

Ruth Carr was born in Belfast in 1953.[1] She studied at Queen's University Belfast, Stranmillis University College, and Ulster University.[2]

Career

Carr's work is primarily as a poet and editor. Her poetry has been described as having "sensuous immediacy and moral wit."[3]

She has published three solo poetry collections. Her first, There is a House, was published in 1999, followed by The Airing Cupboard in 2008.[2][4] Her most recent collection, 2017's Feather and Bone, draws on the lives of Mary Ann McCracken and Dorothy Wordsworth.[5][6]

In 1985, Carr edited the seminal anthology The Female Line, the first literary anthology of work by Northern Irish women writers.[2][7][8] Initial funding for the book, which was published by the Northern Ireland Women's Rights Movement, came from the Equal Opportunities Commission, as well as local trade unions.[5][4] Alongside established authors, several of the women whose work was included in the collection had never been published before.[9] The anthology sold out within a month of its first printing, and it was revived in 2016 in a digital format.[10]

Carr also contributed to 2002's The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, editing the section on contemporary women's fiction.[2][11] She became a founding member of the Word of Mouth women's poetry collective in 1991, and she co-edited its 1996 anthology Word of Mouth: Poems.[1][2][12][13] In 2020, she co-edited the anthology Her Other Language: Northern Irish Women Writers Address Domestic Violence and Abuse with Natasha Cuddington.[14]

She served for 15 years as co-editor of the literary magazine The Honest Ulsterman. In 2003, she oversaw production of its final print issue, which honoured the late poet and Honest Ulsterman founding editor James Simmons.[2]

In 2017, her work was included in the collection Female Lines, a spiritual successor to her 1985 anthology, edited by Linda Anderson and Dawn Miranda Sherratt-Bado.[4][15][16] In 2021, she was featured in the anthology Look! It’s A Woman Writer!: Irish Literary Feminisms 1970–2020.[17][18]

Carr, who lives in Belfast, has also worked as an educator, specializing in adult literacy.[5][19]

Personal life

Carr was previously married to record store owner Terri Hooley, with whom she had her elder daughter.[5][20][21]

Selected works
  • The Female Line (editor, 1985)
  • There Is a House (1999)
  • The Airing Cupboard (2008)
  • Feather and Bone (2017)
  • Her Other Language (co-editor, 2020)

References
  1. The Field Day anthology of Irish writing. Vol. IV. Seamus Deane, Andrew Carpenter, Jonathan Williams. Lawrence Hill, Derry, Northern Ireland: Field Day Publications. 1991–2002. ISBN 0-946755-20-5. OCLC 24789891.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "Ruth Hooley (Carr)". Troubles Archive.
  3. "Quick readings". Ottawa Citizen. 30 July 1988.
  4. "Carr, Ruth". Efacis. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  5. Dardis, Colin (June 2018). "Ruth Carr: An Interview". Honest Ulsterman. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  6. Sweeney, Joanne (7 December 2017). "Female northern poets celebrate joint publication of four new collections". The Irish News. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  7. Fulford, Sarah (2001). "Review of The White Page (An Bhileog Bhán): Twentieth-Century Irish Women Poets". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. 90 (358): 231–233. ISSN 0039-3495. JSTOR 30095469.
  8. Devlin, Martina (4 November 2017). "A shape-shifting celebration of women writers in North". Irish Independent.
  9. Sherratt-Bado, Dawn Miranda (18 October 2017). "A celebration of the rich tradition of Northern Irish women writers". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  10. Savage, Claire (21 November 2016). "Relaunching The Female Line". Herself Press. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  11. Foster, Aisling (4 January 2003). "Review: The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing edited by Angela Bourke et al". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  12. "Poetry Collective Word of Mouth". Lagan Press. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  13. "Introduction to the anthology Word of Mouth". Troubles Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  14. "Arlen House publishes Her Other Language". Ulster Tatler. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  15. Hegarty, Neil (11 November 2017). "Female Lines: New Writing by Women from Northern Ireland review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  16. Anderson, Linda (1 November 2017). "Powerful collection points to more good things to come". Belfast Telegraph.
  17. Kelly, Mary Pat (4 December 2021). "Irish Women Writers Celebrated in New York". Irish America. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  18. Bell, Gail (2 October 2021). "Look! It's a book of Irish women writers!". The Irish News. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  19. Carr, Ruth. "Belle Ombre / Three Poems". Belle Ombre. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  20. Quigley, Maeve (25 July 1999). "Godfather of punk did it just for the kicks". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  21. Marchant, Natalie (19 April 2013). "Interview | Good Vibrations: How a record shop eased Belfast's Troubles". For Folk's Sake. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
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