Every day up until our What Is Feminist Poetry? event we are collaborating on with Threads Equality Agency, we will be sharing a poem which exemplifies feminist poetry in one way or another – to celebrate these voices and start exploring the ideas and experiences they raise. Who writes feminist poetry? What is it about, and what kind of language does it use?
And remember – our event will include an open mic segment so please do bring along (or comment below!) any poetry you’ve written which you think explores or illustrates your experience of your gender, or poetry by anyone else (living, dead, celebrated, anonymous or otherwise) which you think deserves to be shared, discussed, or heard.
Feminist poetry is undeniably about finding and inhabiting your own voice: your own language in which to express your own experience. Here’s Jackie Kay’s “Fiere” exploring female relationships unapologetically and steadfastly in the voice of her Scottish heritage. The poem reimagines Robert Burns’s “John Anderson, my jo” but from the point of view of two girls celebrating their friendship. Fiere is a Scots word meaning “friend, equal, companion” and Kay, speaking of her poem, explains: “Fieres stay the course. You choose your fieres wisely. A true fiere is a fiere for life.”:
