Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Australian Poetry
- The Cambridge History of Australian Poetry
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Language, Text and Colony
- 2 British Speculations on Terra Australis and Romantic-Period Poetry
- 3 Poetry in the Penal Colony
- 4 Becoming Distinct
- 5 The Many-Voiced Charles Harpur
- 6 Anonymity and the Popular
- 7 Settler Labour Poetics and the National Imaginary at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
- 8 Children’s Poetry from 1840 to 1950
- 9 Australian Poetries of War and Conflict
- 10 ‘Poetry Is Its Own Advertisement’
- 11 The New Woman and Poetry (1885–1935)
- 12 Women Poets, Mobility and Being ‘In Between’
- 13 Fin-de-Siècle Symbolism and After
- 14 Kenneth Slessor’s Visualism
- 15 Surrealism and Australian Poetry
- 16 Gum Tears Which Are Also Real
- 17 The Mid Century Canon
- 18 Judith Wright
- 19 Oodgeroo Noonuccal
- 20 Aboriginal Song as Australian Poetry
- 21 Re-Imagining Place (1940–1990)
- 22 Australian Poetry and the Rise of a Suburban Quotidian (1950–2000)
- 23 The Three Ontologies of Regional Poetry
- 24 The Poetry of Antarctica
- 25 Poetry and the State (1945 to the Present)
- 26 Australian Expatriate Poets
- 27 Les Murray
- 28 Religion and Poetry in Australia
- 29 Francis Webb
- 30 Australian Poetry and Post-War Immigration from Europe
- 31 The Long 1970s and Print Culture
- 32 Australian Poets of the 1980s
- 33 Activism and the Eruption of Aboriginal Writing
- 34 Reading the Archive of Australian Feminist Poetry since 1970
- 35 Queer Poetry in Australia
- 36 Between Identity and Form
- 37 Poetry of the South West Asian and North African Diasporas
- 38 Transcultural Relations with Latin America
- 39 Performance Poetries
- 40 Long Form Poetry from the 1980s to the Present
- 41 From Conceptual to Concrete (1960–2020)
- 42 The Digital Era
- 43 The Earth Has Been Done
- 44 Contemporary Anthologies and the Question of Canonicity
- 45 New Dynamics in Twenty-First-Century Anthologies
- Index
- References
34 - Reading the Archive of Australian Feminist Poetry since 1970
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 November 2025
By
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Australian Poetry
- The Cambridge History of Australian Poetry
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Language, Text and Colony
- 2 British Speculations on Terra Australis and Romantic-Period Poetry
- 3 Poetry in the Penal Colony
- 4 Becoming Distinct
- 5 The Many-Voiced Charles Harpur
- 6 Anonymity and the Popular
- 7 Settler Labour Poetics and the National Imaginary at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
- 8 Children’s Poetry from 1840 to 1950
- 9 Australian Poetries of War and Conflict
- 10 ‘Poetry Is Its Own Advertisement’
- 11 The New Woman and Poetry (1885–1935)
- 12 Women Poets, Mobility and Being ‘In Between’
- 13 Fin-de-Siècle Symbolism and After
- 14 Kenneth Slessor’s Visualism
- 15 Surrealism and Australian Poetry
- 16 Gum Tears Which Are Also Real
- 17 The Mid Century Canon
- 18 Judith Wright
- 19 Oodgeroo Noonuccal
- 20 Aboriginal Song as Australian Poetry
- 21 Re-Imagining Place (1940–1990)
- 22 Australian Poetry and the Rise of a Suburban Quotidian (1950–2000)
- 23 The Three Ontologies of Regional Poetry
- 24 The Poetry of Antarctica
- 25 Poetry and the State (1945 to the Present)
- 26 Australian Expatriate Poets
- 27 Les Murray
- 28 Religion and Poetry in Australia
- 29 Francis Webb
- 30 Australian Poetry and Post-War Immigration from Europe
- 31 The Long 1970s and Print Culture
- 32 Australian Poets of the 1980s
- 33 Activism and the Eruption of Aboriginal Writing
- 34 Reading the Archive of Australian Feminist Poetry since 1970
- 35 Queer Poetry in Australia
- 36 Between Identity and Form
- 37 Poetry of the South West Asian and North African Diasporas
- 38 Transcultural Relations with Latin America
- 39 Performance Poetries
- 40 Long Form Poetry from the 1980s to the Present
- 41 From Conceptual to Concrete (1960–2020)
- 42 The Digital Era
- 43 The Earth Has Been Done
- 44 Contemporary Anthologies and the Question of Canonicity
- 45 New Dynamics in Twenty-First-Century Anthologies
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter analyses the role of anthologies in the documentation and shaping of feminist poetries. It considers how they perform cultural, political and aesthetic work for communities of writers and readers, and exist both within and beyond institutions. The chapter considers the engagement with feminism as developing in different generations but also as having important inter-generational connections. The chapter also undertakes close readings of major feminist poets in the late twentieth century to today.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Australian Poetry , pp. 631 - 646Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
References
Select Bibliography
Brooks, David and Walker, Brenda (eds.), Poetry and Gender: Statements and Essays in Australian Women’s Poetry and Poetics, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Brown, Diane and Hawthorne, Susan, ‘Feminist Publishing’, in Munro, Craig and Sheahan-Bright, Robyn (eds.), Paper Empires: A History of the Book in Australia 1946–2005, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2006, pp. 263–8.Google Scholar
Brown, Pam, ‘Pam Brown’s Sydney Poetry in the 1970s: In Conversation with Corey Wakeling’, Cordite Poetry Review 38 (1 May 2012), http://cordite.org.au/interviews/wakeling-brown/.Google Scholar
Coleman, Aidan, ‘1975 and Mother I’m Rooted: The Legacy of Kate Jennings as Anthologist’, Social Alternatives 41.1, 2022, pp. 82–3.Google Scholar
Couani, Anna and Gunew, Sneja (eds.), Telling Ways: Australian Women’s Experimental Writing, Adelaide: Australian Feminist Studies, 1988.Google Scholar
Das, Devaleena and Dasgupta, Sanjukta (eds.), Claiming Space for Australian Women’s Writing, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Heather Taylor, ‘Susan Hawthorne and the Spinifex Press’, Australian Poetry Journal 6.1, 2016, pp. 58–65.Google Scholar
Kelada, Odette, ‘Is the Personal Still Political? Contemporary Australian Women Writers Waltzing to a Different Tune’, Australian Cultural History 27.1, 2009, pp. 25–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lilley, Kate, ‘Between Anthologies: Feminism and Genealogies of Australian Women’s Poetry’, Australian Feminist Studies 12.26, 1997, pp. 265–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, Rose and McCredden, Lyn, Bridgings: Readings in Australian Women’s Poetry, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Moreton-Robinson, Aileen, Talkin’ Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Simic, Zora, ‘“Women’s Writing” and Feminism: A History of Intimacy and Estrangement’, Outskirts: Feminisms along the edge, 28, 2013, https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20140112130952/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/13927/20140113-0000/www.outskirts.arts.uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-28/zora-simic.html.Google Scholar
Vickery, Ann, ‘Australian Women’s Poetry and Feminism’, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.295.Google Scholar
‘Ghostly Sisters: Feminist Collaborative Performance in Australia’, Axon: Creative Explorations 6.1, 2016, www.axonjournal.com.au/issues/6-1/ghostly-sisters.Google Scholar
‘The Rise of “Women’s Poetry” in the 1970s: An Initial Survey into New Australian Poetry, the Women’s Movement, and a Matrix of Revolutions’, Australian Feminist Studies 22.53, July 2007, pp. 269–89.Google Scholar
Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
The HTML of this chapter
complies with version 2.1 of the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG), covering newer accessibility requirements and improved
user experiences and achieves the intermediate
(AA)
level of WCAG compliance, covering a wider range of accessibility requirements.
Content Navigation
Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Reading Order & Textual Equivalents
Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
Full alternative textual descriptions
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.
Visual Accessibility
Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
Structural and Technical Features
ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.