and poet from the small press. Read below:
REPLY TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From:
>>Subject: Why Are There So Few Female Poets In the
Small Press / Underground?
>>
>>Greetings Poetry Lovers,
>>
>>I have been thinking about doing an essay on the
lack of female poets in the small press / underground.
There seem to be many women working in the MFA
programs, but not many around the edges. My
assumption is this: There are more female poets,
editors and publishes in the MFA / academic side of
poetry then there are on the small press / underground
side of poetry.
>>
>>I began to think about this when I did a recent
review/interview on an anthology called, Baby Beat
Generation & The 2nd San Francisco Renaissance which
focused on poets in the 70?s. I got this reply from
Kaye McDonough who is one of the few women featured in
this anthology, ?I think the North Beach lifestyle
itself was hard on women. You had to be able to live
poor and like it -- handle yourself in a bar, walk
alone on the street at any hour, and rely on no one.
You had to take care that you weren't an alcohol or
drug casualty -- and that you could keep up with all
those poets and what they read, and they read plenty.
You had to be able to read your poetry to rooms full
of mostly men who were not shy about giving you
feedback. The womanizing was a definite minus. Where I
came from, women did not go about unescorted at night,
let alone into a bar, so North Beach wasn?t exactly a
place to settle down and start a family-- I'm not sure
I knew what in the heck I was after ? alcohol
certainly played a role. I think I wanted to live like
a man ? a man who was a poet.?
>>
>>I shared this view with a few other people in the
small press and got these replies:
>>
>>Lee Thorn, Editor of FUCK! "You mention women. I
wonder why they don't contribute to FUCK! In the time
that I've had probably thousands of submissions from
men, I've had submissions from only five or six from
women. Pat Steele told me she had the same problem
with her zine, Crawling Eye!" Okay, but maybe the
title Lee has chosen for his magazine (which just
celebrated its 100th issue) is a bit discouraging for
women to respond to, so I pressed on.
>>
>>And a bit later I got this reply from Kathleen
Paul-Flanagan, Editor of Remark, ?I try hard to
support and find female poets but it doesn't seem like
there are too many out there. I'd say 75% or more of
the submissions I receive are from men.?
>>
>>I have decided to open copy the recipients of this
message, as I want you all to see whose been asked to
reply. You are welcome to forward this e-mail to other
friends as well. I am particularly interested in
hearing from a few MFA?s.
>>
>>With this e-mail, I invite those of you who want to,
to weigh in on this matter. I will collect the
responses and then assemble them into an essay on this
topic. Maybe you disagree? Maybe there is nothing we
can do about it? Maybe women are taken better care of
in the MFA / academic side of things? Maybe it doesn?t
matter?
>>
>>Chronically Curious; Thanks!
>>
>>Charles P. Ries
>>
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