Gina Myers' Lists of 27
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*a quick note about the list of 27: If you are a faithful reader of 27 rue de fleures then you will know we began a new feature in our last issue, called "The List of 27." If you are not a faithful reader, we forgive you. These "lists" are solicited from poets we admire. We ask them to create a "list of 27." We conceived of this as a kind of writing prompt but we let our poets know they can take the "list" in any direction they choose. See how Elena Georgiou interpreted the "list of 27" prompt in our last issue. We like Gina Myers' list here so much that we are toying with the idea of using her list to solicit future lists. We like lists, can you tell? The following "list," as you will see, turned into several lists. We like that too. And without further ado...
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| 27 Contemporary Women Writers Several years ago, a male editor asked if I could reach out to my friends and recommend women writers to submit to his journal. I was happy to spread the word, but I was also disappointed, though not surprised, that he admitted to not really knowing many contemporary women writers. This was years before VIDA began releasing their number counts of gender representation in magazines and book reviews. When JodiAnn asked me to put together a list of 27, I knew instantly that I would put together a list of 27 contemporary women writers who we should be reading. Of course, there are many more than 27, but I offer this as a start for people who feel like they aren’t really aware of what writing is out there by women. Further the list includes writers at various places in their career, from those who are “emerging” to those who are more established. And though it is poetry heavy, I’ve also included fiction and nonfiction writers, as well as some of those who do it all. Further, I limited the list to women writing in English. It’s a largely American list. Here’s the list, in no particular order: 1. Eileen Myles 2. Alice Notley 3. Anne Carson 4. Amber Nelson 5. Roxane Gay 6. Angela Veronica Wong 7. Susan Howe 8. Fanny Howe 9. Maggie Nelson 10. Sarah Manguso 11. Bernadette Mayer 12. Evie Shockley 13. Robin Brox 14. Becca Klaver 15. Danielle Pafunda 16. Maureen Thorson 17. Sandra Simonds 18. Anne Boyer 19. Matthea Harvey 20. Sandra Doller 21. Molly Brodak 22. Sueyeun Juliette Lee 23. Elisa Gabbert 24. Jill Magi 25. Heather Christle 26. Magdalena Zurawski 27. Julie Doxsee And for the heck of it, here’s another 27: 1. Sommer Browning 2. Jen Tynes 3. Alli Warren 4. Esther Lee 5. Lee Ann Roripaugh 6. Mary Biddinger 7. Kiki Petrosino 8. Susana Gardner 9. Shanna Compton 10. Kristi Maxwell 11. Jennifer L. Knox 12. Serena Chopra 13. Megan Kaminiski 14. Juliana Spahr 15. Cynthia Arrieu-King 16. Krystal Languell 17. Mary Ann Samyn 18. Donna de la Perriere 19. Kristin Abraham 20. Dara Wier 21. Elizabeth Willis 22. Lisa Jarnot 23. Kate Greenstreet 24. Jenny Boully 25. Elaine Equi 26. Hanna Andrews 27. Claire Becker One more? 1. Lily Brown 2. Emily Kendal Frey 3. Amy King 4. Ana Bozicevic 5. Cheryl Strayed 6. Molly Gaudry 7. Karen Weiser 8. Jackie Clark 9. Lara Glenum 10. Renee Gladman 11. Dorothea Lasky 12. Cathy Wagner 13. Cathy Eisenhower 14. K. Lorraine Graham 15. Mairead Byrne 16. Brandi Homan 17. Hazel McClure 18. Susan Briante 19. Kristy Bowen 20. Patricia Spears Jones 21. Christine Hume 22. Carla Harryman 23. Lyndsey Cohen 24. Rachel Levitsky 25. Elizabeth Robinson 26. Anna Moschovakis 27. MC Hyland Okay, last one: 1. Jessica Fiorini 2. Corrine Fitzpatrick 3. Corina Copp 4. Mary Ruefle 5. Stacy Szymaszek 6. JodiAnn Stevenson 7. Paige Taggert 8. Kristin Prevallet 9. Brenda Coultas 10. Brenda Iijima 11. Ish Klein 12. Cole Swenson 13. Brenda Hillman 14. Sara Mumolo 15. Laura Carter 16. Lauren Levin 17. Alexis Orgera 18. Lily Hoang 19. Wanda Coleman 20. Wanda Phipps 21. Maureen Owen 22. Stephanie Burns 23. Laura Mullen 24. Harryette Mullen 25. Jena Osman 26. Claudia Rankine 27. Kim Gek Lin Short I could keep going. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of women writers who are actively involved in writing and publishing today. These are just a few I came up with in a couple of minutes time, simply writing down whoever came to mind. And I am still thinking of others who I haven’t listed here. A much larger list of women poets exists at Jessica Smith’s blog here. But even that isn’t all inclusive. The ultimate point of this is: it isn’t difficult to find women writers today. There is no excuse for editors to ignore this population. |
27 rue de fleures// Fall, 2012 |