Women Poets

What do female poets have to say about love? What do they have to say about the place of women in society? What about poems that are not specifically about being a woman? Does a female poet write about war or nature any differently than a male poet? What, if anything, about looking at the world from female eyes makes a poem what it is? For women in the class, what about their experiences as women colors their way of looking at the world and writing about life? For men in the class, is there some difference in what they bring to the table?

Week One:
Poets of the Nineteenth Century.
We will look at the poetry of poets such as, but not limited to, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Adelaide Crapsey, Christina Rossetti and Emma Lazarus. What themes are prevalent in their work? Is there anything that differentiates them from their male contemporaries? What influence did they have on poets of the Twentieth Century? What is their legacy?

Week Two:
Poets of the early Twentieth Century.
We will examine the poetry of women such as Katherine Mansfield, Sara Teasdale, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Marianne Moore and Gertrude Stein.
What do they have in common with the female poets who preceded them? Are there ways in which they show the influences of changing times and attitudes? How did they influence poets of the second half of the century? What is their legacy?
Class members will write poetry of their own in response to what we've read so far.

Week Three: Poets of the later Twentieth Century
We will read the works of poets such as Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Atwood, including poets still at work. Where do we see their roots in their work? Where do we see them forging ahead?
As in every era, what to they bring to their poetry that is distinctly feminine? Class members will write poetry in response to these works.

Week Four: Looking Back and Looking Forward
Class members will concentrate on their own work in this final week as we share our work with each other. The class will discuss each other's work in light of all we've discussed. This will be a chance to encourage and challenge each other.


Instructor: Brooke Baldwin

About The Instructor: Brooke Baldwin received her education from Smith and her M.A. from Yale, she focused on essay writing. Her master's degree is in American Studies, which includes American literature. While a graduate student, she served as a teaching assistant in several writing-intensive sections of American Studies classes. For over twenty years she taught writing at the middle and high school level.

As a grad student, she had several articles published in academic journals. She has published articles and pamphlets about the anti-apartheid movement. She joined Fan Story as adewpearl in August, 2008 and became the site's second ranked poet that year. In 2009 she became poet of the year.