Dear Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism,
It’s not you. It’s me. I tried to appreciate you for what you were but came to realise that you and I were simply not compatible. Not wanting to give up before giving us a chance I read you from cover to cover. I’ll admit that some sparks ignited here and there when I read passages such as:
“When a woman tells the truth, she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.”
Danielle Barnhart and Iris Mahan – from the Introduction
“From ashes rising, from rubble resounding, these bodies are borne and forged indestructible by the fires of demolition.”
from the Editor’s Note
Although I loved your cover and the diversity you showed in the awesome illustrations of women, I’m afraid we weren’t meant to be. You’re not what I’m looking for in poetry and that’s not your fault. You are what you are and I’m not asking you to change for me.
You remain true to yourself and there will be plenty of readers who will love you for it. The many voices within you have the potential to change perspectives and lives with their words. Reach out and take hold of those who will appreciate you for who you are.
Your anger, political in nature and righteous, made me want to draw away rather than step closer. I respect your anger. You’ve earned it and have the right to voice it. Maybe you can’t see the possibility of light in the distance and in the circumstances that’s understandable.
However I need to be able to see, even if only in my imagination, that there is a light shining brightly and that it is possible for us to reach. The promise of the light is what motivates me to keep moving and striving for change. For others having what’s wrong with this picture placed in front of them is what they need to search for the pieces that will make the wrong right.
Let’s face it; what we’ve done in the past hasn’t worked out so well for us. Regardless of how it happens our goal is the same. We’re just on different paths to the same destination. I have to believe we will make it to the light of our destination.
I wish you many inspired people who will take up the mantle with you and accompany you on your path towards change.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and OR Books for the opportunity to read this book.
Once Upon a Blurb
A collection with a feminist ethos that cuts across race, gender identity, and sexuality.
Creative activists have reacted to the 2016 Presidential election in myriad ways. Editors Danielle Barnhart and Iris Mahan have drawn on their profound knowledge of the poetry scene to put together an extraordinary list of poets taking a feminist stance against the new authority. What began as an informal collaboration of like-minded poets – to be released as a hand bound chapbook – has grown into something far more substantial and ambitious: a fully fledged anthology of women’s resistance, with proceeds supporting Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Representing the complexity and diversity of contemporary womanhood and bolstering the fight against racism, sexism, and violence, this collection unites powerful new writers, performers, and activists with established poets. Contributors include Elizabeth Acevedo, Sandra Beasley, Jericho Brown, Mahogany L. Browne, Danielle Chapman, Tyehimba Jess, Kimberly Johnson, Jacqueline Jones LaMon, Maureen N. McLane, Joyce Peseroff, Mary Ruefle, Trish Salah, Patricia Smith, Anne Waldman, and Rachel Zucker.
Schizanthus Nerd 