In two intertwined songs, a feminist epic poem and a dreamlike opera libretto, Among the Goddesses traces one woman’s harrowing mythological journey of discovery. Tutored by encounters with seven Goddesses, both frightening and nurturing, Marie/Lily is tested by loss, rape, and abortion as she finds her community and her spiritual strength. This magical book embodies the goddesses in every woman and gives voice to the power of the feminist spirituality movement.
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“Among the Goddesses is a bold experiment. Magical, mystical, musical, it charts a woman's journey that reverses the journey of Odysseus. What is it to be aided by goddesses, if we are women? What is it to face death, and to cause death? How do we become ourselves? "Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Innanna" may be the mileposts of any woman's journey toward freedom.”
—Alicia Ostriker, author of No Heaven and The Book of Seventy
“Among the Goddesses is Annie Finch’s push toward the creation of a monumental work-of-art, an opera as totalartwork & as a vibrant mix of theater & epic. In her personal version/vision of these now resuscitated goddesses she ventures beyond the limits of the lyric/confessional mode too long assigned to poetry. And what’s even better: she sings it out loud as a litany of sounded/clashing dactyls & classical/classy repetitions & choruses, enough to carry any reader, she or he, who wants to go there. Where? Into that genuinely mythic place, the home of poetry & prophecy, where she affirms her artistry & dares us to hear & share her vision.”
—Jerome Rothenberg
About the Author
Annie Finch is the author of four books of poetry, Eve, Calendars (a finalist for the Forward Poetry Book of the Year Award) and The Encyclopedia of Scotland (Salt Publishing), as well as the definitive translation of the Complete Poems of Renaissance love poet Louise Labé. She has also published nine books about poetry, most recently The Body of Poetry: Essays on Women, Form, and the Poetic Self. She is a professor of English at the University of Southern Maine and director of the Stonecoast low-residency MFA program in creative writing. Poems and further information are available at her website, www.anniefinch.com.
Product Details
Paperback: 88 pages
Publisher: Red Hen Press; 1st Edition edition (October 1, 2010)
Annie Finch is an American poet and author. Born in 1956 near New York City, she lived in Texas, California, and the Midwest before moving to the Maine coast in 2004. Finch's books of poetry including Eve, Calendars, Among the Goddesses, and Spells: New and Selected Poems. She is also the author of books about poetry including An Exaltation of Forms, Villanelles, and A Poet's Craft: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Sharing Your Poetry. Winner of the Sarasvati Award and fellowships from the Black Earth Institute and the Stanford Humanities Center, she currently serves as Director of the Stonecoast MFA program at the University of Southern Maine. She is a featured columnist for the Huffington Post religion section and also blogs as American Witch at anniefinch.com.
The Spirit of femininity is as old as women are. "Among the Goddesses" is a blend of epic poem and Libretto, as Annie Finch tells the story of Marie and Lily as they experience all the tragedy and triumph that comes with womanhood, looking to the mother goddesses that predate Christianity for guidance in the most trying of times. Driven and powerful writing in play format, "Among the Goddesses" is an excellent read and a first pick for literary fiction and poetry collections.
