Delmarva Review: Reasons to Burn Her by Catherine Carter

Editor’s Note: Catherine Carter is the featured writer for poetry in Delmarva Review’s 15th anniversary issue. Four of her poems are presented in the current edition, introduced with an interview by poetry editor Anne Colwell.

Author’s Note: “People of privilege often claim that others don’t ‘follow the rules’, or achieve ‘the right way’, without recognizing that those rules change every time someone by whom we feel threatened succeeds…as in the 2018 furor about Serena Williams’ catsuit.  So there’s not much point trying to appease people who feel only affirmed by Tom Brady but constantly pick holes in Serena Williams’ glory–as Williams herself must have learned long ago.”

Catherine Carter was raised on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She now lives with her husband in Cullowhee, NC, near Western Carolina University, where she is a professor in the English education program. Her most recent full-length collection is Larvae of the Nearest Stars (LSU Press, 2019). In addition to the Delmarva Review, her work has appeared in Best American Poetry 2009, Orion, Poetry, North Carolina Literary Review, Asheville Poetry Review, and Ploughshares, among others. On a good day, she says she can re-queen a hive of honeybees and roll a whitewater kayak. On less good days, she collects stings, rockburn, and multiple contusions.

Over its 15-year history, Delmarva Review has published new literary prose and poetry from 490 authors from 42 states, the District of Columbia, and 16 foreign countries. Forty-six percent are from the Chesapeake and Delmarva region. Financial support comes from tax-deductible contributions and a grant from Talbot Arts with funds from the Maryland State Arts Council. Both print and digital editions are available from Amazon and other major online booksellers. The print edition is also available from regional specialty bookstores. Website: www.DelmarvaReview.org