Modernist Women Poets: An Anthology Paperback – April 14, 2015

This is an excellent introduction to Modernist Women Poets, which a good preface by C.D. Wright, the 12 poets collected here are vital to modernism and often under represented in modernist anthologies. Editors Hass and Ebenkamp do a sound job offering a cross-section of the work of each poet, and includes Mina Loy's manifesto. Going beyond Stein, H.D., and Marianne Moore, we get selections of Djuna Barnes, Laura Riding, Mina Loy, Hazel Hall, etc. Increasing the exposure of these poets makes this book exceptional in and of itself, but most of the poems in this volume are excellent artistically and as an archive of an underexplored section of modernist poetic.

Quality book

In an editorial of the 1980s, called NO SPACE FOR WOMEN?, Isaac Asimov severely criticized NASA for making no provisions to incorporate women in the Space Program, specifically the space shuttle flights. How things have changed since his editorial! Well, in the field of literature, women who contributed to the early phases of Modernism have not been recognized for their achievements. So this anthology edited by two men (!) can be put in the category of "It's About Time." So much for polemics . . . This is an excellent anthology, with a fine preface by C. D. Wright, an illuminating 20-page Afterword by one of the editors, the inspiring Robert Hass, and an Appendix with prose articles by four of the women poets, including a Feminist Manifesto by Mina Loy (What would Modernism be without its plethora of MANIFESTOS penned by men?) That leaves the bulk of the volume - 302 pages - for poems by sixteen women poets. Some of these poets are very famous indeed and are well represented in published editions: Gertrude Stein, H. D., Marianne Moore. Others are known for reasons other than their poetry: Djuna Barnes for her unique novelNIGHTWOOD, Laura Riding as Robert Graves's muse and the inspiration behind THE WHITE GODDESS, Amy Lowell as an early supporter of male Modernist writers. The other ten poets are new to me, but being able to read and absorb a generous number of poems by each one has not only raised them to visibility but also given me the names of more literary pioneers who helped humanity cross the threshold of the 20th century, that "Brave New World" in which we are still enmeshed in the early 21st century.I cannot claim that all of the poems struck as being GREAT POEMS, but it is still too early for such a blanket assessment. I will have to re-read the poems, let them dwell in my imagination for a spell, then distribute them (somehow, someway} to other readers for their assessment. Only then will I be prepared to issue a general statement - if that is necessary for you, fellow reader. Perhaps it is enough that we read, mull over and share these poems the way we would with any poems and see how they can help us nudge our personal lives forward.

The worst possible book you could read. Way too much feminism and antiGod vibes. Almost dropped my class bc of the horrendous material in this book.

As an introduction to these women and their art this is a helpful collection, unfortunately,Hass gives too much attention to Stein (with nearly 72 pages), and her work,at one time considered to be cutting edge, simply does not hold up for this reader,as it takes up a lot of space with her nearly pointless ramblings.Being that I am a Poet, I received my hardcover copy as a gift,and I would advise to not by this expensive copy, instead, go for a used paperback.