Catherine Reilly author page

Catherine Reilly biography

Catherine Reilly was a British anthologist and bibliographer, known for her work on poetry from the First and Second World Wars. She compiled and edited several anthologies, focusing particularly on women poets. Her anthology Scars Upon My Heart, published in 1981 by Virago Press, brought together poetry by women from the First World War and is widely cited in academic studies of war literature. Reilly also edited Chaos of the Night: Women’s Poetry and Verse of the Second World War, published in 1984.

In addition to her anthologies, Reilly produced bibliographies, including English Poetry of the First World War: A Bibliography (1978) and English Poetry of the Second World War: A Bibliography (1986), both published by G. K. Hall. These works are recognised as comprehensive reference sources for researchers and librarians.

Reilly’s editorial work has been acknowledged for its contribution to the study of women’s writing and war poetry. Scars Upon My Heart was reissued in 2006 by Virago Press. Her bibliographies remain standard reference texts in the field of war poetry studies.