Lane Cove Local Catherine Briggs – Poetry in the time of COVID19

Catherine was born in Ararat, a small country town in Victoria, which shaped her appreciation of nature and the Australian bush. Her parents were a guiding influence, her father Jack, her gentle uncle, Gene, moulded her regard for men, while her mother, Patty, moulded her love for the beauty surrounding her in the garden and the bush. Her three brothers honed her skills in tree climbing, AFL football and cricket, as well as discussion and debate, at the dining table with fine food and Great Western wines, leading to them saying that ‘they did not need Germaine Greer, we have Catherine.’

After finishing her schooling,  a meandering career path ensued, always fuelled by a love for words. With a journal and a book always at hand, Catherine tried nursing, before focusing on a library career in Melbourne and London.

Beguiled by English traditions, she studied at the Victoria & Albert Museum, concentrating on porcelain, taking up ceramic restoration studies in Norfolk and Chelsea, before working for antique dealers in Chelsea and Melbourne where she set up a business. At the same time, she studied literature, art and film at Monash and La Trobe Universities then deciding on a teaching career in Sydney. She’s always inspired by her daughter, Lucy, the light of her life.

What Prompted Catherine to Publish her Book?

Now, like so many during a global pandemic, Catherine had her plans for travel and the future put aside by COVID19.  This prompted her to look back on a lifetime of travel and education.  Catherine discovered that in times of sadness and the blues, the music of poetry could convey hope and delight.