Cries of The Spirit [Paperback]

Marilyn Sewell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 2000

Brimming over with the inspirational words and thoughts of some of our finest writers, Cries of the Spirit is a beautiful sourcebook of poetry and prose in praise of life and all that it entails. Here women's voices fill the age-old silence about matters central to their experience-from menstruation, sexual intimacy, and childbirth to caretaking, household rituals, and death. These writings represent a healing vision of the sacred that emerges from the particular consciousness of women-a vision that partakes of the world of earth and flesh.
With contributions by Maya Angelou, Julia Alvarez, Margaret Atwood, Hildegard of Bingen, Lucille Clifton, Annie Dillard, Joy Harjo, Erica Jong, Denise Levertov, Audre Lorde, Kathleen Norris, Marge Piercy, Starhawk, Eudora Welty, Alice Walker, and others.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Marilyn Sewell has done us all a great service to gather together these voices, some new, some forgotten, all precious resources. The collection, together with Sewell's deeply insightful introduction, traces the spirit in all its dimensions and diversity, expanding our idea of the spiritual impulse. -Susan Griffin, author of Bending Home

About the Author

MARGARET ATWOOD'S poetry, like her fiction - including The Handmaid's Tale and the Booker-winning The Blind Assassin -- is known and acclaimed around the world. Her last collection, Morning in the Burned House, won the Trillium Book Award in 1995. The author of more than forty works of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and books for children, Atwood has received top honors and awards in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and many other countries. She lives in Toronto. In 2008, Atwood was awarded the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award Laureate for Letters, considered to be the Spanish-language Nobel.

Mary Oliver is one of the most celebrated and best-selling poets in America. Her books include Red Bird; Our World; Thirst; Blue Iris; New and Selected Poems, Volume One; and New and Selected Poems, Volume Two. She has also published five books of prose, including Rules for the Dance and, most recently, Long Life. She lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Anne Sexton (1928-1974), the author of ten collections of poems, received the Pulitzer Prize in 1967.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (April 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807068497
• ISBN-13: 978-0807068496
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #370,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gratitude, January 6, 2000

By 

Shirley A. Blair Keller (Three Rivers, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cries of the Spirit (Paperback)

Marilyn Sewell's work on "Cries of the Spirit" was more than worth the price and I have wanted to thank her over and over. A death in the family and I grab her book to find the right words, a marriage and there she is again, providing a womans point of view from a variety of woman that I have found extremely useful. No matter the occassion, a new baby in the family for instance, and flip of the pages and Marilyn found one more woman who said what I want to say beautifully. Not to mention the times I sit alone, staring at the bay and use the poetry for inspiration for myself. "Cries of the Spirit" (and laughter I might add) is a worth while find!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Handboook for a Woman's Spirit, December 19, 1999

By 

Hannah Lee (Spring Green, Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cries of the spirit: A celebration of women's spirituality (Hardcover)

I've had this book for about three years, and given it as a gift numerous times to my women friends, because it's the perfect companion in any mood and for any occasion. Marilyn Sewell has collected a broad spectrum of poetry from women, both famous poets and not-so-famous, and collected the entries into categories that make it simple to find a reading for just about any occasion or ceremony. There are wise words here, beautifully presented. Bring this book back into print! Buy it! Have it on hand as an instant resource, along with the collections by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon ("Earth Prayers," "Life Prayers," "Prayers for a Thousand Years") for all those occasions when you need the exact right perfect reading for an important moment.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional sampler., July 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cries of the Spirit (Paperback)

This volume is shaped around intuitive explorations of women's spiritual journey: "Owning Self," "The Imperative of Intimacy, "Mothering," "Generations," "Sacredness in the Ordinary," "Images of the Divine." Though my 18-year-old daughter and I have come to perceive ourselves as women very differently, this is a volume we both have come to love. I wouldn't think of sending her off to college without her own copy!