I will admit, I’m not much on poetry. It’s not that I don’t like it, I’ve just never been a slow and patient reader. I like to devour light and fluffy, or dense and decadent prose. Reading a book over the course of a day or two means you miss some things, and with fiction, that’s okay. The overall plot is the same, and if you miss a minor detail here or there, it doesn’t affect your overall impression or enjoyment of the work. Not so with poetry. Also, to be honest, I’m always worried I’m not smart or cool enough to “get” most poetry.

Well, thanks goodness for Women of Resistance. I’m still not cool enough, but I got these poems, and these poets get me. With all kinds of contributors, women, men, lgbtqia folks, there are so many voices in the pages of this book, and I love them all.

I hesitate to use the word “important,” because I feel that it’s overused and a book should be more than just that buzzword. It is important, but it is so much more than that. All of these voices coming together to share their views of feminism from their own world view and experiences, it’s super validating as a woman to see other women speaking out about themselves, to create their narratives without someone else trying to tell them how feminism should be for them.

I spent a long time in the “contributors” section and will be taking notes so that I can look up more work by these writers. I am always looking for literature that changes my perspective and/or teaches me something, and these powerful voices have done both. Definitely check it out. I read the e-version of this book, and though I own very few physical books, I am seriously considering buying a print version for my shelf and to lend to friends. Check it out for some great writing and ideas.

Great selection of thought provoking poetry. Thoroughly enjoyed this and will definitely reread gradually over time

This collection is harder to read than the cute cover would imply. As an anthology, the format changes frequently between writers, but the subjects tend to remain heavy throughout. This will not be something everyone can read.

This poetry collection, edited by Daniella Barnhart and Iris Mahan, opens with Denice Frohman’s poem ’a woman’s place’, and the first lines set the scene for the whole collection:

i heard a woman becomes herself
the first time she speaks
without permission

then, every word out of her mouth
a riot

The collection is huge in scope and has all in all 67 poems from 49 different contributors. This is the main strength of Women of Resistance: it collects together a large cast of diverse voices that all share something about their daily experiences. The collection includes poems by LGBTQ+ authors and writers of colour. The topics covered by the poems range from politics to personal, intimate moments, and the authors talk about sexism, racism, history, motherhood, and marriage, to name just a few. Although the poems differ from each other vastly in style and subject matter, they still form a unified whole. Each poem points out something that is wrong with our world, something that needs to change. As the backgrounds and life experiences of the poets are all different, what they pick up on and what they see in their lives are also different. When read side by side, the poems give you an in-depth look into what it means to exist in the margins of society.

Although the topics the poems cover are bleak, there is an overall feeling of hope, of resistance. It makes you feel connected, and it helps you believe that things can change. The collection reminds you that there is a lot of power in unity. That said, some of the poems can be painful to read, especially the ones that deal with assault and childhood sexual abuse. Therefore I would recommend this collection with a trigger warning for sexual violence.

The collection is split into four untitled sections, and to be honest I didn’t really understand what the connection between the poems in each section is. It’s very possible that I just missed it because I was focusing more on taking in each individual poem and didn’t actively look for overarching themes. However, what I did really like about the way the collection is laid out is that multiple poems by the same author are presented together one after another. It was nice to get a feel for each poet’s style and voice by reading multiple poems by them in a row. I had not heard of any of the poets who contributed to this collection before reading it, and it has definitely introduced me to some new favourites.

I think I found this collection so powerful partly because it is a collection of poetry, and it is difficult for me to imagine that a short story or an essay collection would be quite as effective. Poetry is special in the way it can make abstract concepts tangible and personal experiences universal. It also allows you to take in a lot of information and emotion in a short amount of time without exhausting you to the bone. I think that makes this collection more accessible than many other books on feminism, and I like the idea that the voice of a new feminism is poetry by a genuinely diverse mix of writers.

This is definitely the best poetry collection that I have read. I loved that this was written by a variety of different poets as not only do you get to read a variety of different poetry styles but you also get to ear the voices and experiences of a diverse group of women. These poems are both powerful and inspiring as well as very emotional. Some of my favourite poems throughout this were "A Woman’s Place" by Denice Frohman, Sally Rides Speaks to the Schoolgirls by Laura Fairgrieve and An Open Letter to the Protestors Outside the Planned Parenthood Near My Job by Elizabeth Acevedo. I also love the cover as well as the pictures that are scattered throughout the collection. All of these poems represent the importance of giving women a voice and I would recommend it to everyone.

Beautiful collection of work by fierce women. Applies to the current moment. Some of the poetry here is beautiful. Very contemporary and perfect for anyone interested in the Women's March (or who perhaps SHOULD be interested in the March and what it stands for).
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am not convinced. I started reading the book without somehow realizing that it was poetry. I still wanted to read it as I devour everything feminism these days. Unfortunately, the collection is not for me. I went through every single piece in the collection or anthology and while there were a few I liked or enjoyed there are so many more which I do not understand or like. I definitely think it is a case of it's me and not you, because I absolutely love the idea of a feminist poetry collection.

Since April is National Poetry Month, I decided to read this new collection of feminist poems for the month. A lot of reviews are saying how 'timely' this collection is, and that's absolutely true. But I'd also add that feminist poetry has always been timely and necessary.

What struck me first about this collection is that I'd never heard of or read any of the poets who contributed. I don't try to keep up-to-date with current poets, but I do regularly read current poetry, so I was surprised and pleased I didn't recognize any of the names. The poems range a lot thematically, from sexual abuse to current politics to descriptions of loving female bonds. They also range in style, some leaning toward abstract, others much more concrete, some lyrical, some intentionally jarring and broken.

I never really connected to any of the pieces, and I worry that's because I read it as an egalley, and the formatting wasn't that great. This is a book I recommend reading in print. And I may end up rereading it as such.

Thanks to Netgalley and OR Books for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The poems were so so beautiful and definitely worth reading. Women of Resistance really does its title justice and proves the value of equality. This collection was raw and emotional and empowering. Definitely a must-read for both men and women (especially for men, time to learn a bit about feminism).

I am finding myself reaching for poetry more and more lately! This entire collection was empowering, and enlightening, and honest, and most importantly … it was intersectional! It is beautifully organized with photos that only add to the emotion of the poems. A definite must read for girls AND boys, looking for a little feminism.

I really enjoyed a lot of these poems. They were beautiful and well written and some of them hit me in the gut. That said, the egalley that I was reading didn't have great formatting (and reading verse in ebook formats is tricky enough anyway), so this is one I'd want to revisit in a physical form. I feel like I missed a lot and I definitely had to skim some poems because it was too hard to read.

This was very empowering and important. I liked that there were so many different stories from so many different perspectives and voices. This was very diverse, and is definitely something that I could see being used in a women's studies class!

Women of Resistance is a powerful, necessary collection in the vein of the Rebel Girls anthologies and the recent anthology from Haymarket Books, The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic. The contributor list is remarkably diverse, situating familiar names like Denice Frohman and Rachel McKibbens alongside a number of poets I had never read. The poems themselves address numerous issues faced by women in America today, offering a fully intersectional perspective on feminism and feminist issues, and ultimately establishing the anthology as a vital resource in conversations ranging from race to misogyny to body shame to gender expression.

*Full review forthcoming, May 2018

This book was an amazing compilation of beautiful poetry written by powerful women. The poems ranged from participating in marches to experiencing racism and sexual assault. A hard hitting book that will leave the reader with a new point of view on the world.

★★★★ - 4/5 stars

Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

"i heard a woman becomes herself the first time she speaks without permission
then, every word out of her mouth
a riot"

'Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism' is a love letter to all women across the world: queer women, women of colour, women who have been abused, women struggling with their reproductive rights, women who are still learning how to use their voice, and many others. This anthology was penned by 41 poets allowing a hugely diverse range of voices to finally be heard. In the introduction, the editors say 'this book is a collection of truths' which is an apt description. Every woman has their own truth, and differing experiences do not make one woman's experience less or more valid than another. This book is truly a work of intersectional feminism and demonstrates that no matter who we are, what background we come from, we are all striving towards the same goal of equality, and for that, I am hugely thankful that these poems have been written and collected together.

Admittedly I did not enjoy all the writing styles of the poets. Some I really enjoyed (and would love to read more of their work) and others went completely over my head. That being said, as there is such a diverse range of poetry styles in this book, there is easily something for everyone to enjoy. And whilst I might not have enjoyed the style of some of the poets, I was humbled by these poets sharing their stories with us and with a book like this, I almost feel as if the content was more important than the actual style. I found due to this reason, the styles I didn't enjoy as much didn't take away from the overall experience of the book.

I would highly recommend this book. Even if you're not a fan of poetry, just take an hour to read this book and listen to these women's stories. You might have been through something similar to them, or you might not have. But the point of this book is not necessarily that you relate to these poems, but that you listen to what is being said in them.

Although I adored the intent of this collection, and the fact that a portion of the money gained from its sales will be donated to Planned Parenthood, the content of Women of Resistance went completely over my head. This book gives a voice to so many different, powerful, mind-blowingly amazing women but the fact of the matter is that the things that they finally had the chance to say, completely missed me. I think it’s the format, no I know that it is, it just seems as though if things are not spelled out in drawn-out, novel-like detail, then my brain just can’t grasp the themes that the pieces are trying to extoll. Poetry excels because it often focusses on the abstracts and unfortunately, that is something that completely escapes me.

DNF @ 43% (marking it as read tho bc of the time I spent reading it)


My main problem with this was the format. It's a mess. "Copy not for distribution" is plastered all over the book, sometimes cutting poems in half. Sometimes a poem was supposed to have separated lines (you could tell from the capitalized words mid-sentence) but it would just show as a huge wall of text, no punctuation marks. Or it did show them separated, but only until the middle of it. The name of the book also appeared italicized at random, sometimes in between lines of a poem.

The fact that there were so many authors is good, because we get as many points of view as possible. But at the same time, it affected the flow of the book immensely. I didn't feel like the order of the poems made much sense, and ultimately it was annoying. At times, I read a bunch of poems and I couldn't figure out what they were talking about, either bc they were so different from each other or bc the spacing made no sense.

This is all really frustrating because I wanted to like this, and I'm sure it covers important, heavy, current topics! It just didn't click with me.

Before I saw this book on Netgalley, I had never heard of it. Both the cover and the synopsis intrigued me, and after doing some research about it I figured I would love it.
I tried. God, I really tried. But I think that this book is just not for me.
So just because I didn't enjoy it that much, doesn't mean you won't. The different themes mentioned in this anthology of poems are worth reading, and the poems are all really good. It was just not for me.

So please, please, if you want to give this book a try, go for it.

This is a timely, well-curated collection that highlights powerful voices confronting the Trump administration and the legacy of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and violence it has perpetuated. The variety of perspectives included is crucial to understanding the resistance, and many of the poems are hard-hitting. As is the case with most anthologies, some of the poems are stronger than others. Overall, it's a bolstering and empowering collection that has an urgent message and supports an important cause.

Great collection of information about strong women. I highly recommend it.