Reviews (7)

Thoughts on sister outsider
If you are looking for some consiousness raising, inspiring, and honest words - then this is the book that will bring that to you.I highly recommend it.

Still Saving Lives
"I have come to work on you like a drug or a chisel" wrote the late Audre Lorde. Her passing created a hollow space in my soul that is now full again, thanks to Audre Lorde. Despite the fact that 'Sister Outsider' is assigned in virtually every women's studies and gender studies 101, do not think it is dry, ultimately a mere 'academic' book. Audre Lorde lived in and for a radical poetics and a radical pedagogy. If you have not discovered her work yet, please get a hold of a copy. It might save your life the way it saved mine, and I am white, male and straight, with a fierce hatred of white supremacy, patriarchy, and homophobia. But never mind my repeating a mantra you have heard, simply read this book as soon as possible.

Incredible essays
No poems this time around, folks: prose that gets under your skin and into your head.The late, great Audre Lorde, known primarily for her poetry over the years, wrote what is one of the most compelling books on sociology, sexuality, racism and the nature of human character and existence in the last 20 years.Her charges are damning, but dashed with more than a spoonful of hope when appropriate, and it is impossible to walk away from this book unchanged.Read more

Subjects:  1. African American women    2. Black women    3. Essays    4. Feminism    5. Feminism & Feminist Theory    6. Lesbian Studies    7. Lesbianism    8. Nonfiction    9. Poetry    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Women's studies   

Reviews (2)

An inspiring and enriching anthology
"Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time: An Anthology," edited by Carl Morse and Joan Larkin, brings together the work of nearly 100 poets, mainly from the U.S. and Canada. This anthology is a stunning achievement. The poets represent a multigenerational group of men and women. These poets also represent many different cultural heritages: Native American, Jewish, Asian, Latina, and more. There is a particularly strong representation of African-American poets: Essex Hemphill, Audre Lorde, Cheryl Clarke, and many, many more. A must have for any poetry-lover!
That's right, any poetry-lover.The poems in this collection reflect truly universal themes that anybody can relate to.This is a collection of nothing but masters of the art of poetry.From Beats to Surrealists toConfessionalists, it's all here (and not just for queers). ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Anthologies (multiple authors)    3. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    4. Poetry    5. Literature of special Gay & Lesbian interest    6. Poetry / Anthologies (multiple authors)    7. Poetry texts & anthologies   

Reviews (1)

Unafraid to Fight
Alexis DeVeaux presents a comprehensive account of self-described feminist, lesbian, and poet warrior, Audre Lorde.The author pulls together a myriad of published documents, unpublished journal entries by Audre Lorde herself, and a host of interviews with personal friends and family members to create a well documented look at the poet's life.The book is divided into two major sections called "lives."The first life begins prior to Audre's birth, and highlights some aspects of her parent's early life, their eventual marriage and move from the Caribbean to the United States.This family background helps readers understand Audre's nearly lifelong quest to come to terms with her relationship with her often emotionally detached parents.This portion of the book also details information about Audre's childhood, educational background, and young adult life.We learn about Audre's marriage to a white, gay, man and their eventual divorce and follow her process of "coming out" regarding her own lesbianism.Her long-term relationship with a white woman, Frances Clayton, and the challenges associated with raising a bi-racial son and daughter in a lesbian household during an era of rampant, overt racism and sexism was also discussed.DeVeaux also takes time to highlight some of Audre Lorde's flaws, thus providing a somewhat more balanced view of the author.Her professional career as a poet develops slowly, and the evolution of her writing career parallels the evolution of her political views and personal growth.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Ethnic Cultures - General    7. Feminists    8. Lesbians    9. Literary    10. Lorde, Audre    11. Lorde, Audre - Poems & Criticism    12. People of Color    13. Poets, American    14. Specific Groups - Lesbians    15. United States    16. Biography: general    17. English    18. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    19. USA   

Reviews (2)

Plesasurable reading
Rare and Commonplace Flowers innovates in the scholarly field. A carefully documented biography, it reconstructs step by step the story of Elizabeth Bishop and Lota de Macedo Soares.Carmen Oliveira's literary achievement lies in conveying this research of undeniable academid value in a very agreeable piece of storytelling.A must for Women's Studies, the book is recommended to anyone who enjoys a good read.

At last, in English!
This book is a treasure, a delightful read.It speaks to a broad range of interests.Fans of Elizabeth Bishop will enjoy learning about her relationship with Lota and her experiences during the 17 years she lived in Brazil.If you are interested in Brazilian history and politics, you will find a rare account of the early sixties in Rio de Janeiro, as the country headed toward military dictatorship.It is also a marvelous and tragic love story.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1910-1967    2. 1911-1979    3. Artists, Architects, Photographers    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Bishop, Elizabeth,    8. Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911-1979    9. Fiction    10. Lesbian Studies    11. Lesbians    12. Literary    13. Soares, Lota de Macedo,    14. Specific Groups - Lesbians    15. Biography: general    16. Bishop, Elizabeth    17. Brazil    18. English    19. Individual artists    20. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    21. Soares, Lota de Macedo   

Reviews (6)

not good at all
she claims to be a feminist, yet she eschews all jobs she has and decides to be a prostitute, since she can make so much money in so little time.
regular babble written in poetry form
i bought this to read on an airplane, and this is exactly what this collection is good for (a quick read). there was nothing particularly insightful or interesting, and the repetition of subjects throughout the years of this collection suggest that tea is stuck in a teenaged emotional state, and without any wit. tea's main problem is that she needs to find more interesting content. what she does write about, she writes very dramatically, but it doesn't seem to have much depth or true feeling behind the matter. she does have an interesting style, but one that can be found from countless other poets. when she starts writing poetry about writing poetry, it lead me to believe that tea loves the idea of being a poet more than writing poetry.

meh.
it's allright. the whole book is more like reading a diary of a 15 yr old aspiring poet. you know, the kind of teenager that takes themselves too seriously. throughout the collection, tea never seems to mature or to learn anything, but perhaps that comes in a later book. tea's writing does draw you in, though. if only she would apply her style to something other than her angsty relationships, her writing would be great. the best parts of her poems are usually when she digresses and talks about her surroundings, but then she always goes back to the afore-mentioned angst.
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Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American Contemporary Poetry    3. Lesbians    4. Poetry    5. San Francisco (Calif.)    6. English    7. Literature of special Lesbian interest    8. Poetry / General    9. USA    10. Works by individual poets: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (4)

Brilliant papyrologist, Not as brilliant a literary critic.
The late D.L. Page's talents were certainly in creating solid, serviceable texts, such as his work with Aeschylus, the Poetarum Lesbiorum Fragmenta, etc.His exegesis of textual problems in this text is still remarkably useful, and provides the scholar with adequate information to proceed in an informed manner when working with the text.As far as a literary critic, Page has always been less than creative, looking at things with a rather prosaic lense.His interpretation of Alcaeus fr. 357 (LP Z34, V 140) is foolishly literal, and fails to contribute anything to the understanding of the piece.His wide reading and abilities with the language itself more than make up for his shortcomings, making this an essential book to have for suggestions that point the reader towards parallel passages, and as survey of the textual corruption/emendation in the selection of poems contained within.

An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Lesbian Poetry
[As that is the subtitle of this book.(Take note "Lesbian" is a historical and geographical appellation, not a sexual one.)] An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Lesbian Poetry
[As that is the subtitle of this book.(Take note "Lesbian" is a historical and geographical appellation, not a sexual one.)]Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient and Classical    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. International    4. Law    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Ancient (Classical) Greek    7. Classical Studies | Literary Criticism    8. Literary Criticism & Collections / Ancient & Classical    9. Poetry & poets: classical, early & medieval    10. Works by individual poets: classical, early & medieval   

Reviews (9)

The Emergence of an Entire Genre and of a Remarkable Author
Alice Street Editions has released a new edition of this 1986 novel by author Katherine V. Forrest, originally published by Naiad Press.If you read this novel long ago, it is worth the purchase price just to read the foreword from the author and the afterword written by Victoria A. Brownworth.But the book is worth rereading for its own merits.
Wow!What a dramatic story - more a coming to awareness than a romance

Not my kind of thing really
I was quite disappointed in this book - it was the first fiction of its kind I have ever read and sadly it lived up to all the negative stereotypes. The husband character in the book is such a cardboard-cut out villian the lesbian lover is a virtual saint. However the author has a real talent for making sex scenes erotic. Definitely a book for flicking through ... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient, Classical & Medieval    2. Bisexual women    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Lesbian    7. Lesbians    8. Married women    9. Poetry    10. Women artists    11. General & Literary Fiction    12. Literature of special Lesbian interest    13. Poetry texts & anthologies   

Reviews (4)

Rite/Right/Writing
This has to be one of the most significant books on human rights...not just gay issues!Hemphill was responsible for supporting and bringing into the light many Black gay/gay Black writers, and doing so unselfishly.Of all the gay Black writers of his generation he is probably the most creative.This book is an important record of an incisive intelligence and a true human being.His poetry, ranging from brief lyric to complex sequence, is evocative and accomplished (a pity that it remains overlooked by White gay anthologists!)His essays read like finely-tuned, emotional short-stories, especially "Miss Emily's Grandson Won't Hush His Mouth". Ceremonies also contains probing attacks on racism and key thoughts about Mapplethorpe and the representation of the Black male. Essex Hemphill possessed a comprehensive political mind that embraced race issues, gender issues and class issues. In Ceremonies, his voice often rings out angrily in the name of human equality.It is a powerful voice that supports the vulnerable with concern and tenderness.A work of great honesty.

An Unselfish Gift
"I have nothing to lose tonight" -- the line that starts it all. "Ceremonies" by the late Essex Hemphill is a collection of the poet/essayist/activist's remarkable prose and poetry culled over his many years of writing. An impressive collection of memorable poetry and commentary
Ceremonies is an impressive collection of memorable poetry and commentary by Essex Hemphill, one of the few authors who dares to openly portray African American gay life. Raw, compelling, gut-wrenching verse is the hallmark of this serious and powerful compilation. American Hero: I have nothing to lose tonight./All my men surround me, panting,/as I spin the ball above our heads/on my middle finger./It's a shimmering club light/and I'm dancing, slick in my sweat./Squinting, I aim at the hole/fifty feet away. I let the tension go./Shoot for the net. Choke it,/I never hear the ball/slap the backboard. I slam it/through the net. The crowd goest wild/for our win. I scored/thirty-two points this game/and they love me for it./Everyone hollering/is a friend tonight./But there are towns,/certain neighborhoods/where I'd be hard pressed/to hear them cheer/if I move on the block. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. Gay Studies    4. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    5. Gender Studies    6. Lesbian Studies    7. Social Science    8. American English    9. Other prose: from c 1900 -    10. Poetry & poets    11. USA   

Reviews (1)

Vey Informative Research about H.D.
I read this book as part of a graduate project on H.D. It was very informative about the nature of H.D.'s poetry, especially as it concerns encoded language. The comparisons drawn between Sappho's writing and H.D.'s poems show a linear connection between the poets in their subjects, speech and rhythms. H.D.'s images can be understood as a continuation of an ongoing conversation with the ancient Greek poet. H.D.'s interest in palimpsests is another interesting connection and influence in her writing. H.D. was lyrically attuned to Sappho's intent, and many of her poems are enriched by this layer of understanding. Collecot focuses on several poems in depth to capture the sense of what H.D. was trying to do with her work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Hilda Doolittle),    2. 1886-1961    3. 20th century    4. Appreciation    5. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    6. Greek poetry    7. H. D    8. History    9. History and criticism    10. Knowledge    11. Lesbians' writings, American    12. Literary Criticism    13. Literature    14. Literature - Classics / Criticism    15. United States    16. Women Authors    17. Women and literature    18. American English    19. British Isles    20. H. D.--(Hilda Doolittle),--1886-1961--Knowledge--Literature    21. Influence    22. Literary Criticism & Collections / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    23. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    24. Sappho   

Reviews (1)

Marvelous!A not to be missed book

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Subjects:  1. Erotic literature, American    2. Erotica - General    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - Adult    5. Lesbian    6. Lesbians    7. Literary collections    8. Erotic fiction    9. Literature of special Lesbian interest    10. Short stories   

Editorial Review

Marilyn Hacker's dark, complex poetic vision has a strange, often formal, beauty to it. Yet, when she writes in Read more

Reviews (2)

I Want to Be Marilyn Hacker When I Grow Up!
I suspect she can rattle off blank verse in iambic pentameter without thinking about it. She can be as earthy as Sharon Olds ("Mother II"), self-deprecating as Philip Larkin ("Riposte") or amusingly Byronic ("Ballade of Ladies Lost & Found.") I appreciate her older poetry, but my admiration increases as I read the newer work, particularly the poems from the most recent collection in this book, Going Back to the River; I would mention "April Interval," "Nights of 1964-1966: the Old Reliable," "Elevens" and `Against Silence" as being particularly striking. She is a diva at my favorite forms: the sonnet and the sestina, and now, thanks to her I have found a new one, the canzone.

Truly Deserving of its National Book Award
Hacker is a master of the sonnet, sestina, and villanelle.I'm always amazed when I arrive at the end of one of her poems and discover that elegant and natural words are arranged in one of these structured ways. Her words and images pull you into the poems and into Hacker's mind. Elegant.Beautiful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Hacker, Marilyn - Poems & Criticism    3. Lesbians    4. Mothers and daughters    5. Poetry    6. Women    7. Poetry anthologies: from c 1900 -   

Subjects:  1. Feminism    2. Lesbians    3. Poetry   

Subjects:  1. 1830-1886    2. American - General    3. American poetry    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. Dickinson, Emily,    6. Gay & Lesbian    7. History and criticism    8. Intellectual life    9. Lesbians    10. Lesbians' writings, American    11. Literary Criticism    12. Literature - Classics / Criticism    13. United States    14. Women Authors    15. American English    16. English    17. Gay & Lesbian studies    18. Literary Criticism & Collections / American    19. Poetry & poets: 19th century    20. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    21. USA    22. Women's studies   

Reviews (1)

Loved it, Loved It, LOVED IT!!
This was the best money I've spent on a book this year, maybe ever, and although I'm not much of a poetry book-buyer, I read my share of books.(I've reviewed gay- and lesbian-themed books free-lance for over 15 years.)"Love Speaks Its Name" is simply an excellent anthology of gay- and lesbian-themed poetry with artists as diverse as Sappho, Shakespeare, Whitman, Cavafy, Cole Porter, and several Baby Boomers sounding off on AIDS as well as traditional themes of love.Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthologies (multiple authors)    2. Gay men's writings    3. Gays' writings    4. Homosexuality    5. Love poetry    6. Poetry    7. Poetry / Anthologies (multiple authors)   

Reviews (4)

Wonderful
I may never speak ill of poetry again.
Yes, Ali, There is a Camus
Ali Liebegott's new collection of poetry, The Beautifully Worthless, is a stunning debut.Fresh out of the gate from the wizards at Suspect Thoughts Press in San Francisco, this remarkable gem is a fresh and fantastic look at life in all its complexity, ugliness and beauty. Same Difficult World, Different Atlas
One of the recurring images in this endearing book is that of the penny--worthless (practically), yet impossible to just ignore or throw away. So it is with the footloose narrator, who refuses to live a throw-away life, in spite of herself.
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Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Fiction    3. Lesbian    4. Poetry   

Reviews (1)

Not the usual suspects
Garber is helping to chart a new critical lineage of feminist and lesbigay studies and activism.In contrast to the received histories of these movements, in which feminism and lesbian feminism are portrayed as white, middle-class exclusionary (and humorless!) movements ultimately betrayed by their own political correctness and tunnel vision, Garber presents a more dynamic, multi-dimensional view. She focuses in particular on the contributions of working class lesbians and lesbians of color to the development of both lesbian AND queer theories, thereby "decentering" the usual suspects. Read more

Subjects:  1. Feminism & Feminist Theory    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. Identity    4. Lesbian Studies    5. Lesbian feminist theory    6. Lesbianism    7. Lesbians    8. Literary Criticism    9. Poetry    10. Sociology    11. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian   

Reviews (1)

Excellent. A Classsic Chicana text.Exhileratly Powerful
A famous first for Chicanas, a bold continuation of the subject after "Companeras:Latina Lesbians."Poetry, Art, letters, an interview with Ana Castillo, crtical theory and validation.Alcala's ending piece is an excellent summary. "I think of other Chicana lesbians as family..." Still the best comprehensive text on the subject 7 years after its publishing. An absolute must read for anyone interested in the subject "because many of us have a cousin, a sister etc.."-Trujillo ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th Century American Literature    2. Hispanic American Literature    3. Lesbians' writings, American    4. Literary collections    5. Mexican American lesbians    6. Poetry   

Reviews (5)

Questions stereotypes of genre and themes
Dorothy Porter breaks the mold with 'The Monkey's Mask' - a lesbian detective poetry text which questions attitudes towards poetry, detective novels, gender, class and the myths of Australian society. A luscious thriller
Jill Fitzpatrick is a private investigator hired to find a missing student. When the girl is found murdered, Jill promises the girl's parents that she'll find who did it. The girl's former poetry professor, Diana, weaves an intoxicating spell of seduction that overwhelms Jill. Is Diana just a simple, thoroughly enjoyable distraction to Jill's mission, or is there something darker hiding behind the woman? After another professor is killed, Jill finds that she herself might be next. Porter's saucy thriller, told through a series of poems, electrifies the senses and rockets the reader to its shocking end. Not only is it a spectacular mystery, but it's also a taut, dazzling story of obsessive, flooding desire.

A Good Cross-Genre
Another must read for poetry fans would have to be the book - The Monkey's Mask, by Dorothy Porter. It's a verse novel and a hybrid genre that is taking off in Australia. Les Murray, Australia's poet laureate, has one and so does Alan Wearne. Porter wrote this detective thriller around the Sydney poetry readings scene. What is remarkable about the book is the interweaving of Porter's poetry on the page, within a sordid scene of a missing angst-ridden, confessional poet. So as the story goes.. the protagonist, Jill Fitzpatrick, is the PI investigating... Mickey's disappearance - (the angst poet). I read the book back in my university days and it was the only book I have ever read in three nights. A sign, that when one sinks into a book so deep, it has achieved and captured the reader's undivided attention. The book's greatest achievement, on the subliminal level, is that not only is it written as poetry, but it incorporates Mickey's love poetry in the narrative. Porter's book, moreover, not only works through its compression of language, but it is power-driven by its structure, characters, plot, storyline and conflict. It's also just been made into a film, which gives much kudos to the book when a director like Samantha Lang (who did Elizabeth Jolley's book - The Well) has given a very close, erotic and visual adaptation of this verse novel. 'The Monkey's Mask' truly has to go down as one of the best reads, not only for its delicate handling of female homosexuality and eroticism, but through its sparcity of language that is, as we know it - accessible poetry.Congratulations to Dorothy Porter for this hybrid literature that is both inspirational and a great work of art. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    3. Lesbian    4. Mystery & Detective - General    5. Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths    6. Mystery/Suspense    7. Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General    8. Works by individual poets: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (1)

Beautiful! Sensual...real
This book does beautiful service to the experience of lesbian love and sensuality.Great for reading to a lover on a moonlit night or for wooing a new love to the next level. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Erotic poetry, American    3. Lesbian    4. Lesbians    5. Lesbians' writings, American    6. Poetry    7. Women In Literature    8. Women authors    9. Non-Classifiable   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Lesbians    3. Poetry    4. Sociology    5. Women As Authors (English Literature)