Member Review

From Fanny Fern (born in 1811) to Georgia Douglas Johnson (who died in 1966). the female writers in this collection range—in their life spans—from the Romantic to the Postmodern periods in literature. Therefore, it's no surprise why "Radicals, Volume 1: Fiction, Poetry, and Drama", includes works from lesser-known and very well-known female writers who touch on taboo subjects, such as ghosts, lesbian love, women's writing being published, cross dressing and revenge—each excerpt reflects a specific moment in time. The writers use different types of traditional literary forms to write about topics outside of acceptable societal and gender norms. However, using traditional literary forms is not a criticism, just an observation.

On the whole, I loved this anthology! It's a fantastic collection of women's writing! I suspect that Meredith Stabel and Zachary Turpin were faced with making difficult decisions about whose work and which work to include in this anthology. I feel that what has resulted is a collection of writing that, as is pointed in the foreword, is radical primarily because "literacy has always been a privilege rather than an inalienable right for marginalized people" (Loc 45). For women of any colour, writing was a means to say what was inappropriate for them to say aloud. As a woman of colour, reading this made me feel included in a history of literature that tends to exclude us. For example, there were moments I was waiting to read Phyllis Wheatley and then had to remind myself that, although Wheatley's poetry and writing is phenomenal, she was not writing about radical topics of her time. Yet, she's the only black poetess I learned about when I was studying American literature in university (in Canada). I wish I'd had a collection like "Radicals, Volume 1: Fiction, Poetry, and Drama" to refer to when I was studying.

I highly recommend this text! I especially hope that your local public library has it once it's released!

My personal favourites in this anthology were, "The Storm" by Kate Chopin, "A Chinese Boy-Girl" by Sui Sin Far, "If I Had Known" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson, "A Double Standard" by Frances E.W. Harper, "Talma Gordon" by Pauline Hopkins, "The Hermaphrodite" by Julia Ward Howe, "An Appeal to Woman" by Sarah Forten Purvis, "Clotelle—A Tale of Florida" by Katherine Davis Chapman and "The Soft-Hearted Sioux" by Zitkala-Sa.

I'd like to end this review with a fantastic quote from Fanny Fern's "Ruth Hall: A Domestic Tale of the Present Time (1885):

"'when I get to be a woman shall I write books, mamma?'
'God forbid,' murmured Ruth kissing the child's changeful cheek; 'God forbid,' murmured she, musingly as she turned over the leaves of her book; 'no happy woman ever writes' (Loc 854).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the University of Iowa Press for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of "Radicals, Volume 1: Fiction, Poetry, and Drama" in exchange for my honest review. I can't wait to get my hands on volume 2!