book shares rediscovered work by 'The Forest Poetess'

Poems by Catherine Drew, known in her lifetime as ‘The Forest Poetess’, have been brought together in a new book by Reading the Forest co-directors and  research associates of the University of Gloucestershire Dr Jason Griffiths and Dr Roger Deeks. The book was one of the many outcomes of the Forest of Dean Writers Collection Project supported d by the National Lottery Fund.
 
Catherine Drew, born in 1784, is truly remarkable figure, overcoming the limited expectations at the time of her class and sex to become a published and respected  poet. She grew up at Gunns Mill near Mitcheldean in the Forest of Dean, later moving to the rapidly expanding industrial town of Cinderford. Her work chronicled the Industrial Revolution as the coal and iron industry exploded onto her native landscape of the Forest. She loved the natural environment and wrote several poems in praise of it. She was known to sometimes walk in the woods in the moonlight. In her work laments the impact of the expanding industry but also recognizes the social benefits this new commerce also brought to the area such as schools, churches, shops and inns. 

Catherine’s eight previously known poems were published in 1841 with costs covered through advance subscriptions. It was republished again in 1904 and in 2002 but copies remain scarce. The new book makes them accessible again, with the added delight of containing additional works uncovered during work on the Writers Collection project. 
 
Catherine's descendants in the United States were delighted to hear about the Writers Project and the previous work on Catherine by Reading the Forest. They donated a number of poems handwritten by Catherine that the family had taken there when they emigrated in the 1870s. These poems and others found in archives and newspapers closer to home have been published in this new book that also includes the original poems that were published in 1841. 

Catherine is an enduring emblem of the Forest of Dean and her poems about the changing landscape are of huge relevance in what remains a changing Forest. The collection is a great historical record and relevant to schools and the public today. Jason and Roger are hugely grateful to Michael Wright, the donor of poems and artefacts (including Catherine's lace cap) from Massachusetts. 

The project, including the new book, was made possible with the support of the many brilliant volunteers working on cataloguing, research and project events.  
 
The Forest of Dean Writers Collection at Dean Heritage Centre has attracted papers and artefacts related to some of the Forest’s most famous writers including Leonard Clark, Valerie Grosvenor Myer, and Harry Beddington. The new collection of Catherine Drew’s work is the first book published by Dean Heritage Centre and is hoped to be the first of many to come. 
 
The book is on sale now at Dean Heritage Centre.