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.
Poetry, and feminist poetry in particular, is a chance to explore the body, one’s experience of one’s own body and how we learn to inhabit it, accept it, grow into it. For many people this takes time and can face resistance. Poetry is a valuable, potent way to get to grips with one’s own gender, physical being, and expression of identity. Jenny Johnson’s work delves into the complexities of queer identity, her experience of intimacy, gender, physicality, “a heart hunting after a body”. Here’s “Late Bloom“.