Bared
One of the hardest things about the rhythms of the academic year is that most of my reading for pleasure is relegated to winter break, spring break, and to the long stretch of summer. So, for instance, even when beautiful anthologies arrive in the mail (anthologies that perhaps include my poems), they often end up in the tall stacks of books to-be-read. This happened with Laura Madeline Wiseman’s wonderful new anthology, Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts, when I received it a few months ago. But, how’s that for great subject matter! Bras and breasts. Here’s a description of the anthology:
Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts collects the work of 170 contemporary women poets and artists. Exploring the gendered narratives that clothe and fashion the body, gender subversion, the traditional male gaze, feminist theories, and more, the artists and poets collected in Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts resist given narratives about the breast and bra by boldly presenting alternatives in written and visual art.
Two of my own poems are included in Bared, “Water through a Hand” and “Undergarments of the Soviet Era” (both of which originally appeared in my fourth book, The Arranged Marriage). Bared includes the work of so many incredibly talented poets, including pieces by Ellen Bass, Tara Betts, Grace Cavalieri, Denise Duhamel, Alice Friman, Allison Joseph, Julie Kane, Leslie Adrienne Miller, Hilda Raz, Stacey Waite, and many more!