A History of Twentieth-Century British Women's Poetry

Divided into three sections (1900-1945; 1945-1980; 1980-2000), this survey documents the publications, activities and achievements of an undervalued literary community. An overview of each period explores the particular challenges and opportunities for women. The chapters that follow discuss the major poets, as individuals or in groups connected by their context and practice. These essays reflect and stimulate continuing debates about the nature of women's poetry and comprise an invaluable resource for scholars, students and interested readers. 1900-45: Overview Lyrical androgyny: Alice Meynell, Frances Cornford, Vita Sackville-West and Elizabeth Daryush A public voice: war, class and women's rights Modernism, memory and masking: Mina Loy and Edith Sitwell 'I will put myself, and everything I see, upon the page': Charlotte Mew, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Anna Wickham and the dramatic monologue 1945-1980: Overview Stevie Smith The postwar generation and the paradox of home The poetry of consciousness-raising Disruptive lyrics: Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Wendy Mulford and Denise Riley 1980-2000: Overview 'These parts': identity and place Dialogic politics in Carol Ann Duffy and others Postmodern transformations: science and myth The renovated lyric: from Eavan Boland and Carol Rumens to Jackie Kay and the next generation. A History of Twentieth-Century British Women's Poetry offers a uniquely detailed evaluative documentary record of the publications, activities and achievements of a lively but undervalued literary community. Part literary history, part critical analysis, this comprehensive survey is organised into three historical periods (1900-1945, 1945-1980 and 1980-2000) covering both canonical and lesser-known, but significant, writers "A History of Twentieth-Century British Women's Poetry offers a detailed record and analysis of an array of publications, activities and achievements Jane Dowson And Alice Entwistle. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 257-362) And Index.