Women Creating Women

Book excerpt: Women Creating Women is a pioneering exploration of contemporary Irish women poets that should provide a frame of reference for all future discussion of this topic. Patricia Haberstroh focuses on five poets in particular, beginning with Eithne Strong and Nuala Nf Dhomhnaill, both of whom still write in the Irish language—each emphasizing the importance of the female perspective on the human experience. She then turns her attention to three of the best-known contemporary poets: Eavan Boland, the most highly esteemed; Medbh McGuckian, the most difficult and original; and Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, whose poems make some of the stronger statements about the need to balance a male with a female perspective to broaden the human vision. Drawing on a wide reading of the poets' works and extensive personal interviews with them, Haberstroh demonstrates the emergence of a more self-conscious and self-confident female poet who is ready to rewrite the story of Irish women and redefine and explore female identity and the image of women in Irish history, culture, and literature. Her final chapter explores Irish women's poetry since 1980. This book is a celebration of poets, poetry, and Ireland that allows the reader to discover the works of these fine poets.