Poems Between Women [Hardcover]

Emma Donoghue (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231109245 | ISBN-13: 978-0231109246 | Publication Date: April 15, 1997 0

With poems in English by over one hundred female poets -- American, English, Scottish, Canadian, South African, Indian, Irish, and Australian -- this is an extraordinary collection that pays homage to four centuries of women's desires, friendships, and expressions of love. The collection is testimony to the rich tradition of female verse and the timelessness of love and creativity.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This book gathers the work of more than 100 female poets, of primarily British and American descent, since the 17th century. Emma Donoghue's astute introductory essay suggests a coherent tradition between the poetry of pre-20th-century romantic friendships and explicit contemporary lesbian poetry. She includes work by well-known writers such as Aphra Behn, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde, and also introduces the work of lesser-known historical writers. The brief biographies of the poets at the end of the book illustrate not only the varied backgrounds of these writers working outside the mainstream, but also the kinds of networks and alliances they formed to sustain one another.

Review

Poets from the last 400 years contribute to this rich anthology of women's love poetry, which includes works from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich. This collection, revealing secrets, longings and startling friendships, is an eloquent tribute to love shared by women.

(Chicago Tribune )

Dazzling in its range and scope, [ Poems Between Women] places in sharp focus the matrix of women's lives, socially and emotionally, over four centuries....Outstanding.

(San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231109245
• ISBN-13: 978-0231109246
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,936,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is a writer of contemporary and historical fiction whose novels include the bestselling "Slammerkin," "The Sealed Letter," "Landing," "Life Mask," "Hood," and "Stirfry." Her story collections are "The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits," "Kissing the Witch," and "Touchy Subjects." She also writes literary history, and plays for stage and radio. She lives in London, Ontario, with her partner and their two small children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure Trove, September 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Poems Between Women (Hardcover)

this book is fabulous! Emma Donoghue's introduction provides fascinating contextual information, guiding the reader through attitudes toward love between women from the late 1660s to the early 1990s. The poems themselves fairly leap off the page with lives of their own. Donoghue selected poems which are quite accessible and widely varied. I did have some trouble getting past the melodrama of some of the earlier work, but once I did, I discovered many, many truly delightful poems illuminating the myriad aspects of women's love for one another. At the end of the book is a section of biographical notes about the poets which is intriguing on its own. This volume would be an asset to anyone's library.