Chosen Sisters is the working title of my current writing project, which I hope will become my next poetry collection.
I’m researching the lives of women from the past who lived in intimate relationship with other women – or expressed a desire to do so – and am writing poems inspired by their stories. I know it colloquially as my ‘dead lesbians project’, although very few of the women I’ve written about would have used that word to describe themselves.
When I chat to people about my 'Chosen Sisters' project, they often ask how far back in history I've gone in my research. The answer always comes as a surprise: the first poem in my sequence, 'A Summoning', is inspired by an Anglo Saxon text written in the late 7th or early 8th century. Tracing … Continue reading Where there are rules there must be unruly women
Chosen Sisters is the working title of my current writing project, which I hope will become my next poetry collection. I’m researching the lives of women from the past who lived in intimate relationship with other women – or expressed a desire to do so – and am writing poems inspired by their stories. I know … Continue reading CHOSEN SISTERS – AN INTRODUCTION
I know Chosen Sisters colloquially as my ‘dead lesbians’ project, which is a neat way of summing it up, and worth it for its ability to shock or amuse, depending on the audience. But both of those words need unpacking if I’m to outline the parameters of the project. What do I mean by ‘dead’? First and … Continue reading CHOSEN SISTERS – EXPLANATION OF TERMS