She is Fierce

by Ana Sampson

  Twinkled to Sleep is here.

  Hera Lindsay Bird (born 1987)

  Hera is from Wellington, New Zealand, where she works in a bookshop. Her first book, Hera Lindsay Bird, was published in 2016, and her second, Pamper Me to Hell and Back, in 2018. Some of her poems – including ‘Monica’, about the Friends character – have been viral online sensations. Her caustic, witty verses have won her many awards and legions of fans. She likes murder mysteries and watching ice-skating.

  Love Comes Back is here.

  Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)

  Elizabeth’s father died when she was a baby, and her mother was committed to a psychiatric hospital not long afterwards, so she was brought up by her grandparents. She intended to become a doctor until she met the poet Marianne Moore at Vassar College – Marianne became a lifelong friend and inspired Elizabeth to embark on a writing career instead. She didn’t write many poems – only 101 were published during her lifetime – but worked tirelessly on each one, polishing it to perfection. Elizabeth lived in Brazil with her partner, the architect Lota de Macedo Soares, for fourteen years, before Lota’s tragic suicide.

  One Art is here.

  Louise Bogan (1897–1970)

  Louise had a difficult childhood: her unstable mother indulged in public love affairs and mysterious disappearances, and the family moved around a lot. Her family wasn’t wealthy, but a kindly benefactor funded her studies when she showed promise at school. She lived most of her life in New York, where she was friends with writers including William Carlos Williams, and was poetry editor of the New Yorker magazine for four decades. Louise had a daughter with her first husband, but struggled with poverty and depression when they later separated. Her poems were greatly praised during her lifetime, and she was the fourth Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1945.

  Song for the Last Act is here.

  Aisha Borja

  Aisha comes from the Colombia of her father’s family. Despite struggling with profound dyslexia, she has won both the Foyle Competition and the First Story National Writers Award for her work.

  Bridge is here.

  Alison Brackenbury (born 1953)

  Alison grew up in Lincolnshire. Her latest book, Aunt Margaret’s Pudding (HappenStance Press, 2018), celebrates the strength, humour and cooking of Dot, her indomitable country grandmother. Her next book will be her Selected Poems (Carcanet, February 2019). This celebrates the fact that Alison, now a town-dweller, has done far less cooking than Dot – and almost no ironing.

  Friday Afternoon is here.

  Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612–1672)

  Though sometimes known as America’s first poet, Anne grew up in Northamptonshire, where her father worked for the Earl of Lincoln. As a child she was a ‘devourer of books’ in the Earl’s library. Her family emigrated to the newly settled American colonies, where Anne and her husband – later Governor of Salem during the famous witch trials – had eight children. Although she also wrote about other subjects, Anne’s writing about her family is her best loved today. It was rather scandalous for a woman to publish at that time. Her brother-in-law printed her work without her knowledge back in London, and early editions took great pains to emphasize her respectability.

  To My Dear and Loving Husband is here.

  Anne Brontë (1820–1849)

  Anne’s novel Agnes Grey was inspired by her time as a governess. Its heroine was a petted and patronized youngest sibling who grew up among rugged hills – so we can draw our own conclusions about Brontë family dynamics from that! She had to leave her post after persuading her employers to hire her feckless brother Branwell, who embarked on an affair with the lady of the house. She and her elder sisters Charlotte and Emily published their poetry under male pseudonyms as Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell. Disappointed by pitiful sales of two copies in a year, they worked intensively on their novels instead, pacing the dining room and critiquing each other’s work. Anne’s novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – in which a woman flees her cruel, alcoholic husband – was considered shocking but was a huge hit. Anne died from tuberculosis aged only twenty-nine.

  Lines Composed in a Wood on a Windy Day is here.

  Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855)

  After a sheltered childhood on the Yorkshire moors, Charlotte travelled to Brussels with her sister Emily to learn French. There, she fell miserably in love with the married owner of their boarding house – a passion that inspired her novels Villette and The Professor. Jane Eyre was published in 1847 and was an immediate bestseller. She survived her siblings and married, though slightly unenthusiastically. She died in 1855.

  Speak of the North! is here.

  Emily Brontë (1818–1848)

  Many of Emily’s poems originated in her gothic-flavoured writings about Gondal, an imaginary island realm created with her sister, Anne. Emily’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights was, like much of her poetry, inspired by the wild beauty of the Yorkshire moors where the sisters lived with their father and brother. She died from tuberculosis aged only thirty.

  High Waving Heather / Stanzas are here and here.

  Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)

  Elizabeth received an excellent education at home from her adoring but overprotective father, and published poetry from her teens onwards. Despite living as an invalid and recluse – perhaps devastated at her brother drowning, perhaps injured in a fall from a horse – her poetry was hugely popular. She attracted fan mail from Robert Browning – then an aspiring poet, six years her junior – and their relationship revived her sufficiently to elope with him to Italy, get married and have a son. Her father never forgave them. A greater celebrity than her husband during their lifetimes, Elizabeth also involved herself in contemporary politics. She was a passionate critic of slavery and child labour, and her epic poem Aurora Leigh was remarkable for its strong heroine and contemporary setting.

  Sonnet 43 / Extract from Aurora Leigh are here and here.

  Liz Brownlee (born 1958)

  Liz went to nine different schools before she was eleven. She wrote and drew as a child and began again when her own children were small. She gives workshops at schools, libraries and festivals on the subjects of her books: endangered animals, extraordinary women, empathy, and shape poems. Liz goes everywhere accompanied by her assistance dog, miniature labradoodle Lola.

  Battle of the Sexes is here.

  Colette Bryce (born 1970)

  Colette is an award-winning poet from Northern Ireland. Born and brought up in Derry, she moved to England as a student in 1988 and settled in London for some years while starting out as a writer. She received the Eric Gregory Award for emerging poets in 1995. After a year teaching in Madrid, she took up a fellowship at Dundee University from 2002 to 2005, and was subsequently appointed North East Literary Fellow at the universities of Newcastle and Durham. She currently lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where she works as a freelance writer and editor.

  The Brits is here.

  Helen Burke (born 1953)

  Helen was born in Doncaster to Irish parents and started writing poetry in 1989. Her poems have been widely published and anthologized, and she has won numerous prizes. Since the 1970s, Helen’s poems have appeared in pamphlets, on greetings cards, on pieces of origami, on radio, on tape, on CD, on the side of stray dogs and in a million other places. Her verses have been set to music by an Australian orchestra and she has performed with jazz, rock and Irish folk musicians.

  Lacing Boots is here.

  Finn Butler

  Originally from London, Finn now lives and works in Japan. Her first poetry collection, From The Wreckage, was published in 2014. She holds a degree in music from Goldsmiths and released an EP, We Are Laughing, in 2017. Her work is inspired by meditation and time spent in nature, though she can also be found arguing the feminist cause over a pint at her local pub. She is currently working on a novel, to be dedicated to her primary school teacher in fulfilment of a long-held promise.

  Saltwater is here.
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  Katie Byford

  Katie wrote a prize-winning university dissertation about the poet Sappho and has worked in poetry, photography, writing, graphic design and film with organizations including the Wellcome Collection, Horniman Museum and London South Bank University. She has been a member of Barbican Young Poets and gives talks and workshops on classical subjects and poetry.

  Not Andromeda is here.

  Moya Cannon (born 1965)

  Moya was born in County Donegal and now lives in Dublin. She has taught in various schools and universities, been writer in residence at Trent University Ontario and Kerry County Council, and edited Poetry Ireland in 1995. She has collaborated with musicians including traditional Irish singers and a string quartet, and a bilingual Spanish/English edition of her poems was published in Spain in 2015, translated by the respected Argentinian poet Jorge Fondebrider.

  Introductions is here.

  Vahni Capildeo (born 1973)

  Scottish/Trinidadian poet Vahni have lived in the UK since 1991. They read Old Norse and translation theory at Oxford. Their published books of poetry include Measures of Expatriation (2016), which won the Forward Prize for Best Collection. They have worked at the Oxford English Dictionary, for Commonwealth Writers, and in academia. They are the Douglas Caster Cultural Fellow in Poetry at the University of Leeds.

  To Sleep Possum to Dream is here.

  Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (c. 1623–1674)

  Happily married to William Cavendish, a poet and Cavalier commander during the English Civil War, Margaret’s aristocratic background enabled her to write in an age when a woman selling books was considered shocking. She was an eccentric celebrity – children would follow her carriage through London to catch a glimpse of her. She wrote many books including plays, fiction, science and philosophy, and was among the first women invited to visit the scientific Royal Society. She often criticized the restrictions imposed on women at that time in her writing.

  Of Many Worlds in This World is here.

  Mary Jean Chan

  Born and raised in Hong Kong, Mary Jean currently lives and works in London. She is the author of the pamphlet A Hurry of English (Poetry Book Society Summer Pamphlet Choice) and her debut poetry collection is forthcoming from Faber & Faber (July 2019). She came second in the 2017 National Poetry Competition, and was shortlisted for the 2017 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. Mary Jean is currently a PhD candidate and Research Associate in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, the University of London, and is an editor of Oxford Poetry.

  Practice is here.

  Lady Mary Chudleigh (1656–1710)

  Born into an upper-class Devon family, Mary married the third Baronet of Ashton. It’s unclear how happy they were, as she does write rather a lot about marriage being a prison – but she did publish fiercely feminist poetry and essays at a time when many husbands would have prevented her. Mary argued for women’s rights and education and the reform of the oppressive marriage laws, as well as praising female friendship. She had at least six children.

  To the Ladies is here.

  Kate Clanchy (born 1965)

  Kate was born and grew up in Scotland but now lives in Oxford. Her poetry collections Slattern, Samarkand and Newborn have brought her many literary awards and a wide audience. She is the author of the much acclaimed Antigona and Me, and was the 2009 winner of the BBC Short Story Award. She has also written extensively for Radio 4. Her first novel, Meeting the English, was published by Picador in 2013 and was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa First Book Award and longlisted for the 2014 Desmond Elliott Prize. Her first collection of stories, The Not-Dead and the Saved, was published by Picador in June 2015. Kate’s anthology of poems from the students of Oxford Spires Academy, England: Poems from a School, was published in June 2018 by Picador.

  Timetable is here.

  Polly Clark (born 1968)

  Polly has had various jobs including zoo-keeping and teaching English in Hungary. Her poetry has won many prizes, and she was selected as one of Mslexia magazine’s ten best poets of the decade in 2014. Her debut novel Larchfield, which featured the poet W. H. Auden, was published in 2017. She is now the Literature programmer at Cove Park, Scotland, dividing her time between Scotland and a London house boat.

  Friends is here.

  Gillian Clarke (born 1937)

  Gillian was born in Cardiff to Welsh-speaking parents, though she grew up speaking English and only later learned Welsh herself. She has written many poetry collections for adults and children, as well as plays for theatre and radio. She translates poetry and prose from Welsh, and her own work has been translated into ten languages including Chinese. Gillian was the National Poet of Wales from 2008 to 2016. Her prize-winning poems are studied on the GCSE and A-Level syllabus, and she performs regularly for Poetry Live!

  Mali is here.

  Lucille Clifton (1936–2010)

  Lucille grew up in Buffalo, New York, though she moved to Baltimore in 1967. She held many professorships and fellowships and was Maryland’s

  Poet Laureate from 1974 to 1985. She wrote numerous books covering subjects including family relationships, the struggle for civil rights, black political leaders, women poets, the legacy of slavery, women’s history, terrorism and her struggle with breast cancer. The girls in her family were born with an extra finger on each hand which was amputated in childhood, and she often wrote about her ‘ghost fingers’ and their activities. Lucille also wrote many much-loved children’s books.

  Homage to my Hips is here.

  Kristina Close

  Kristina has a Canadian voice but was born in the UK. Her poems have appeared in various magazines and anthologies including Poetry Wales, Rialto and Magma. Her poem, ‘Gone’, won the 2016 Cheltenham Buzzwords competition.

  And then he said: When did your arms get so big? is here.

  Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907)

  Mary was the great-great-niece of Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but was better known during her life for her eerie, imaginative novels. She was too shy to publish her poetry under the famous family name, so she did so under the pseudonym ‘Anodos’. Her poetry only reached a wide audience after her death when another poet, Henry Newbolt, published them under her real name. Mary never married, and devoted most of her time to lecturing at the Working Women’s College in London.

  A Moment is here.

  Vittoria Colonna (c. 1490–1547)

  Vittoria was from a noble family and was the most admired female poet in Italy during her lifetime. Her husband spent most of his time away at war and they had no children. When he was killed in battle, she defied her family, and even the Pope, by refusing to marry again, instead moving into a Roman convent as a guest rather than a nun. Her reputation for being devout and chaste helped her avoid the accusations of being ‘fame-hungry’ that were often aimed at women who published their work at the time. Vittoria was respected by leading writers and artists, including Michelangelo, who was at her side when she died and wrote that ‘tears were in all eyes’.

  The Juniper Tree is here.

  Abigail Cook (born 1997)

  Abigail received a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was a 2015 SLAMbassadors performance winner. She writes frankly about mental health, family, her body and sexuality, and leads workshops in poetry and performance. She was included in the anthology Rising Stars, which was Highly Commended in the 2018 CLiPPA.

  My Body is here.

  Susan Coolidge (1835–1905)

  Susan’s real name was Sarah Chauncey Woolsey and she is best remembered as the author of the children’s book What Katy Did, with Katy’s family modelled on her own lively, well-off New England clan. It has been a great favourite with many generations of children, including the author Jacqueline Wilson, who wrote her own book Katy in tribute. Sarah worked as a nurse during the American Civil War (1861–1865) and it was after this experience that she started to write poems, short stories and fiction for ad
ults and children.

  New Every Morning is here.

  Wendy Cope (born 1945)

  Wendy wasn’t fond of the ‘fairies and nature’ poems she learned at school, but loved it when her father recited ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ to her. In her bestseller Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis, she mocked the literary establishment in the shape of a dreadful fictional poet called Jason Strugnell, and her pitch-perfect parodies have won her many fans. She also edits anthologies and writes poems for children. She was awarded an OBE in 2010.

  The Orange is here.

  Frances Cornford (1886–1960)

  Frances was Charles Darwin’s granddaughter and grew up in a lively, well-educated extended family near Cambridge. Her husband – also a poet – was called Francis so they were known by their initials FCC and FCD to avoid confusion. They had five children, one of whom became a poet himself but was killed fighting in the Spanish Civil War. She published eight books of poetry. ‘To a Fat Lady Seen from the Train’ was her most well-known poem, and was so famous that it was even parodied by G. K. Chesterton and A. E. Housman.

  Ode on the Whole Duty of Parents / The Guitarist Tunes Up are here and here.

  Yrsa Daley-Ward (born 1989)

  Yrsa grew up in Lancashire, where she felt her West Indian and West African heritage made her an outsider. She worked as a model in London and, later, in Cape Town, where she also began to write and perform poetry. Her first collection, Bone, was initially self-published before being snapped up by Penguin Books, and she has also published short stories and The Terrible, a memoir. Yrsa has written movingly about depression and mental health and her poetry has won her a large and enthusiastic following online.