Thank you to Danielle Barnhart, Iris Mahan, OR Books, and NetGalley for the advanced reviewer copy of “Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism” in return for an honest review.

I do not even know where to start with my love for this book. All of the poets that you love, that you wait for each new sheaf of poems from, is here in this tome, giving light and fire and every emotion, every type of story, of every woman, every life, that you could dream to want and find to be educated about that you don’t know yet.

Get this book. Get several copies of it. Give it to the women in your lives. Girl friends, and coworkers, and young girls questioning their world. This volume is empowering, freeing, and much needed in these troubling times.

I will be buying several copies of this book this year, to be given as Birthday Gifts and Christmas/Yule presents, and even just ‘You Are An Amazing Woman Never Forget Never Let Anyone Tell You Anything Less’ gifts. ( )

Breathtaking with beauty and forthrightness. Full review soon. ( )

Inclusive, Intersectional, and Feminist AF

(Full disclosure: I received a free ARC for review through NetGalley.)

I want to believe
I’m a better woman now
that I’m writing poems.
that when I say, poems
I mean another way
to say, revenge.
(Denice Frohman, “Hunger”)

My god understands how slave women plucked pearls
from between their legs rather than see them strung up by the neck.
(Elizabeth Acevdeo, “An Open Letter to the Protestors Outside the Planned Parenthood Near My Job”)

This little grandmother
was ordered to pull down her paintings
because the Rabbi was offended
by her version of Eve: 9 months pregnant,
unbroken & reaching for another apple.
(Ruth Irupé Sanabria, “On Mate & the Work”)

Compiled in response to the 2016 election, Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism features the work of fifty feminist activists; some established poets, other relative newcomers; from all walks of life. The collection is both timely, and depressingly timeless: sexual assault, objectification, interpersonal violence, racism, police brutality, the suppression of women's voices, disenfranchisement, white supremacy; all are issues that we've been fighting for far too long. (Cue the meme, "I Can't Believe I Still Have To Protest This Fucking Shit.")

Some of the poems I loved; others, I struggled with; and a small handful I skimmed over altogether. The collection's greatest strength is its inclusiveness, diversity, and breadth of voices. And yet, Women of Resistance is a little uneven, and I can't say that I always "got" - or even enjoyed - the poems featured here. (To be fair, poetry isn't my strong suit, and I've been feeling a little burned out on it lately to boot.)

THAT SAID, when a poem resonated with me, it was often a loud and resounding affair. There are some truly astounding pieces of verse in here! In particular I adored the work of Denice Frohman ("Hunger," "A Woman's Place"), Kimberley Johnson ("Female"), Jacqueline Jones ("Civil Rights"), Kim Addonizio "To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall"), Laura Theobald ("Getting a UTI"), Elizabeth Acevdeo (“An Open Letter to the Protestors Outside the Planned Parenthood Near My Job”), Ada Limón ("Service"), Stacey Waite ("The Four Nights She's Gone"), Patricia Smith ("What She Thinks as She Waits by the Door"), Ruth Irupé Sanabria (“On Mate & the Work”), Mary Ruefle ("Woodtangle"), Rachel McKibbens ("Shiv"), and Lauren K. Alleyne ("Ode to the Pantsuit").

Usually I prefer reading ebooks on my Kindle, since it's easier to highlight text and take notes this way, but this particular book looks its best on an ipad or other full-color device. There are some neat black and white protest photos here and there, and the formatting tends to stay true to the original.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2018/04/20/women-of-resistance-edited-by-danielle-barn... ( )