The Virago Book Of Wicked Verse

Description

This wonderfully sharp and witty collection of poems - feisty, bawdy, erotic, irreverent - is an illuminating comment on women's ability to transform poetry into a medium of subversiveness. There are jibes at hypocrisy and prejudice, plenty of sexiness and sauciness, and a riotous turning of the 'Lady Poet' image on its head. ('A fallinf leaf could stir her. / A wilting, dying rose / would make her write, both day and night, / the most rewarding prose. / She'd find a hidden meaning / in every pair of pants / then hurry home to be alone / and write about romance' - Maya Angelou). With poets spanning continents and centuries, this anthology demonstrates lavishly the myriad ways in which women can be 'wicked' - by their definition - and wilfully so! Poems by: Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Aphra Behn, Nina Cassian, Emily Dickinson, Carol Ann Duffy, Lorna Goodison, Jackie Kay, Liz Lochead, Suniti Namjoshi, Grace Nichols, Dorothy Parker, Fiona Pitt-Kethley, Izumi Shikibu, Stevie Smith, Anna Wickham and many more.

Jill Dawson is the author of three novels, the latest being Fred & Edie, which was short-listed for the Whitbread Novel of the Year and the Orange Prize in 2001. In addition she has edited five anthologies and published journalism and poetry. She lives in the Fens with her partner and two sons.