Feminist poems. This is a topic that is often spoken about in poetry – so what exactly is it? What can you learn by reading feminist poetry?
What are Feminist Poems?
Feminist poems are a subsection of poetry. It typically consists of poems that focus on exploring the inequalities of women. Or celebrating women and their achievements.
Poetry in general is a very thought provoking area of literature, and feminist poetry is particularly good at this.
Practically every woman in literature has had her hand in feminist poetry at some point. From ancient greek poet Sappho, through past Emily Dickinson, to modern authors like Maya Angelou, and Amanda Lovelace.
Feminist poetry has been a constant presence in literature written by women. So no matter what you like, you’ll probably find a poet and their collected works that tick your box.
How did I get started reading Feminist Poems?
There are many many MANY feminist poets out there, and so being able to read all of them in a month of reading would be impossible.
Instead, I decided to focus on any collections that had been reviewed positively, as well as any strange ones that caught my eye. (I’m a sucker for judging a book by its cover)
I started by picking up a copy of Nikita Gill’s Great Goddesses – life lessons from myths and monsters. I fell in LOVE with this book.
Seriously. I recommended this book to all of my friends and my copy feels like an old boomerang it’s gone out and come back to me so many times.
I loved this book’s format of poems, with pages of prose in between. If you’re new or rusty with poetry, this is a great scaffold to help you.
After this, I read some of the poems by Amanda Lovelace, The Princess Saves Herself in this One. It was wonderful. I loved the way these poems were so minimal and connected you so strongly with the character of the princess.
What I began to notice as I read this book in particular, was how much I resonated with the poems, and how much I noticed them beginning to affect my own attitude.
When I finished this collection, I took a day trip down to Brighton and stopped by the feminist bookshop while I was there.
The feminist bookshop is fantastic and really worth a visit if you find yourself nearby, by the way.
I picked up two collections of poems there:
Witch by Rebecca Támas and Teeth in the back of my neck by Monika Radojevic.
I’m going to be honest, I’m more or less writing this article just to talk about how much I loved Teeth in the back of my neck.
What Feminist Poems I have read so far:
So normally here I would put in my tips, tricks and links section.
BUT, there aren’t really any tips I can give, so rather than try, I’m just going to list what I’ve read, and what I’ve noticed so far.
- Great Goddesses by Nikita Gill
- The Princess Saves Herself in this One – Amanda Lovelace
- WITCH – Rebecca Tamás
- Teeth in the back of my neck – Monika Radojevic
- Fierce Fairytales and other stories to stir your soul – Nikita Gill
- Wild Embers, tales of rebellion, fire and beauty – Nikita Gill
- c+nto and Othered Poems – Joelle Taylor
So what did I learn at the end of the month?
Well. There’s a lot of content out there that I haven’t covered. There are so many other books that I want to read. And that’s a wonderful feeling.
I love finishing a month long hobby and wanting to discover more about it. That’s always a win.
I found that feminist poetry can be very varied.
Some of the books I read were full of empowering messages and hope for others, really encouraging you to be your best self. Amanda Lovelace’s books were particularly good for this.
Others, like Teeth on the back of my neck were wonderfully angry and full of messages about injustice. It’s a great book for highlighting inequalities rather than fostering a feeling of self love.
Some, like the work of Nikita Gill have a mix of both of these, which is nice if you’re not sure what you’re after.
Some of the titles I read fell a bit flat for me, but that doesn’t mean they will for everyone, poetry is incredibly subjective.
I really do thing that everyone should try reading feminist poetry at least once. For so many of us, poetry is something that we just haven’t engaged with much since leaving school. Which is a shame.
This month has really made me fall in love with poetry all over again, which is wonderful.
If you find yourself needing some thoughtful words of encouragement, or want to feel a sense of solidarity, I urge you to check out some feminist poems for yourself.
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