Food for thought in Cork poet's verses on eating disorders and other issues 

Victoria Kennefick says that a combination of moving to Kerry, writing poetry and support from family and friends helped her overcome her issues around food 

Victoria Kennefick, Cork poet now living in Kerry. 

Describing herself as a hyper-sensitive person, poet Victoria Kennefick lays herself bare in her debut poetry collection, Eat or We Both Starve. The native of Shanagarry, Co Cork, now living in Tralee where she teaches English and history at second level, writes on a range of themes. These include eating disorders, sex, the female body, and coming-of-age in Catholic Ireland. 

However, she baulks at the description of her poetry as 'confessional'. "It's a difficult term. I'm a huge fan of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton who would have been called confessional poets. Of course, in my writing there is self-examination but it's a conceit. What I've written isn't exactly what happened but yes, there are autobiographical elements. I can see the merits of the term 'confessional' but it can be used to be quite dismissive of women writers."