Books Books
Category: Bestsellers, Poetry, Poetry Anthologies
Number of pages: 366
ISBN: 9781854114310
Publication date: March 23, 2016
Price: £14.99
With over 250 contributors, this generous selection of poetry by women with an emphasis on twentieth-century poetry in English features poets from the USA, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, and New Zealand. Arranged by thematic chapters that touch on various aspects of modern life, this anthology aims to be a touchstone of women’s thoughts and experiences; to be entertaining and relevant as well as inclusive and representative of some of the best poetry published now. A thorough section devoted to author biographical details and credits (revised in the 2016 edition) will be of use to scholars and the curious who desire to read more work by the poets included.
The Editors are the well-known poet Eva Salzman, and Poetry Editor Amy Wack, both Americans, graduates of Columbia writing programme in New York City, who have made the UK their home. Amy Wack has edited a number of anthologies for Seren including Oxygen and Burning the Bracken, and was for many years Reviews Editor at Poetry Wales magazine. All of Eva Salzman’s books – The English Earthquake (Bloodaxe), Bargain With The Watchman (Oxford University Press), One Two II (Wrecking Ball Press) and Double Crossing: New and Selected Poems (Bloodaxe) – won Poetry Book Society Recommendations/ Special Commendations.
In these ‘Post-Feminist’ times, is there a need for such a book? Is the literary establishment still as dominated by men as it once was? Who gets to decide the canon? Eva Salzman opens Women’s Work with a lively polemic, making the case for the women-only anthology with characteristic wit and flair.
You will find familiar names as well as new discoveries amongst the contributors: Fleur Adcock, Patience Agbabi, Moniza Alvi, Margaret Atwood, Sujata Bhatt, Colette Bryce, Siobhan Campbell, Amy Clampitt, Polly Clark, Wendy Cope, Toi Derricotte, Carol Ann Duffy, Christine Evans, U.A. Fanthorpe, Ruth Fainlight, Vicki Feaver, Daisy Fried, Alice Fulton, Tess Gallagher, Louise Gluck, Marilyn Hacker, Joy Harjo, Selima Hill, Kathleen Jamie, June Jordan, Martha Kapos, Jenny Joseph, Jackie Kay, Mimi Khalvati, Alice Oswald, Phillis Levin, Denise Levertov, Gwyneth Lewis, Sandra McPherson, Marianne Moore, Sharon Olds, Ruth Padel, Pascale Petit, Katherine Pierpoint, Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, Muriel Rukeyser, Carol Rumens, Olive Senior, Jo Shapcott, Stevie Smith, Gertrude Stein, Anne Stevenson, Chase Twichell, Judith Wright, Tamar Yoseloff, and many others.
First published in 2008, the 2016 edition contains a revised introduction and updated author biographies.
Eva Salzman
Eva Salzman was born in 1960 in New York City, and grew up in Brooklyn where – from the age of 10 until 22 – she was a dancer and later a choreographer. She was educated at Bennington College and Columbia University, moving to Britain in 1985. She now lives in London. Her eclectic background has led to work in cross-arts projects with artists, dancers and singers. Her teaching work – for children, teenagers and adults – has included projects in London’s East End and a residency at Springhill Prison as well as continuing work for the Poetry Society’s Poet in the City and Poetryclass projects and co-devising a Start Writing Poetry course for the Open University.
Amy Wack
Amy Wack was born in Florida and educated at San Diego and Columbia universities. A graduate of Columbia writing programme in New York City, Amy Wack now lives in Cardiff and was Poetry Editor at Seren from 1992-2021, where she edited a number of poetry collections, including Oxygen and Burning the Bracken. She was also Reviews Editor at Poetry Wales magazine for many years.
Eva Salzman reads her own poem in the anthology, ‘Brooklyn Bridge’:
