Nava Atlas's Blog, page 77

Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton (November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974), born Anne Gray Harvey, was an American poet and playwright. Though she was considered one of the pioneers of modern confessional poetry, her artistry reached far beyond that genre. Born in Newton, MA, she grew up in a middle-class home in Weston, MA.

Her dysfunctional family life set the stage for her lifelong struggles with mental illness. Her father was an alcoholic, and her mother, a housewife with frustrated literary aspirations. Anne’s later writings reflect an upbringing of abuse and hostility.

A tumultuous young adulthood

In addition to her tumultuous relationship with her parents, Anne had difficulty with school. She was oppositional and often had trouble concentrating. At a boarding high school, she discovered acting and poetry. An attractive young woman with a sense of adventure, she was on the receiving end of much male attention. By age nineteen, she eloped with Alfred “Kayo” Sexton II, even while engaged to another.

When Kayo was serving in Korea, Anne embarked on a modeling career and a series of extramarital affairs. Around the years of giving birth to their daughters in 1953 and 1955, Anne became severely depressed. She had her first manic episode in 1954 and attempted suicide on several occasions.

Struggles with mental illness and the start of a writing career

Anne likely suffered from what’s now referred to as bipolar disorder, then called manic depression. It was during these first, destabilizing years, that her therapist suggested that she begin to write.

Joining some Boston-area writing groups proved fruitful. Anne connected with established poets like Maxine Kumin, who became a lifelong friend. The two women regularly critiqued one another’s poetry and wrote four children’s books together. Anne also studied with Robert Lowell at the same time as Sylvia Plath (with whom she was also good friends) and George Starbuck.

Anne felt a great deal of kinship with Sylvia Plath, and like her, often expressed a death wish in her poems, as in “Wanting to Die“. When she learned of Plath’s death by suicide, she seemed almost envious.

In 1959, both of her parents died, and though her relationship with them had been fraught, to say the least, the trauma led to more mental breakdowns.

Her first collection, To Bedlam and Part Way Back, was published in 1960 to critical and public praise. It was followed by All My Pretty Ones in 1962. Anne was receiving not only critical praise but prestigious awards as well. These included the Frost Fellowship, the Shelley Memorial Prize, a Ford Foundation grant, and many others.

You might also like: 10 Poems by Anne Sexton, Confessional Poet

Pulitzer Prize for Live or Die

In 1967, Anne received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for Live or Die (1966). Despite her immense list of accomplishments, the press often referred bizarrely to her as a “housewife” when covering her receipt of this honor. The Associated Press coverage from May, 1967 reads in part:

“Mrs. Anne Sexton, housewife winner of the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, says, ‘My topic is my family, my life. It’s corny, but I try to write the truth.’ Mrs. Sexton, 38-year-old mother of two daughters, won the $500 prize for Live or Die, published last year.

‘It’s a book of instruction. Live or die. Make up your mind. If you’re going to hang around don’t ruin everything. Don’t poison the world … The poem will tell me if I’ve found the truth. Some poems don’t, and they’re failures. Usually I think I’ve found the truth. But a poem owns its own truth. Some break you up or hurt.'”

Live or Die is contains some semi-autobiographical accounts of her recovery, or attempted recovery, from mental illness. The collection is far from the musings of a suburban housewife, even though coverage of the prize attempted to portray her in such a light

Productive, destructive years

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Anne spread her wings. Her play, Mercy Street was staged off-Broadway in 1969. She wrote prose-poems with a feminist bent in the collection titled Transformations (1972). But all the accomplishment and accolades couldn’t stave off her deteriorating mental health. During this time, she continued to attempt suicide and became dependent on alcohol and medications.

Anne’s tumultuous marriage to Kayo came to an end in 1973, and though it had long been unhappy, she was left unmoored. Depression led to self-isolation. On October 4, 1974, she had a working lunch with her close friend Maxine Kumin. She committed suicide by asphyxiation by carbon monoxide in her garage. She was not quite 46 years old.

Anne Sexton: A Biography by Diane Wood Middlebrook is a portrait of a talented yet deeply troubled woman. She’s described as bewitching, complex, exasperating, and self-destructive:

“From the day Sexton began writing in 1956, her poetry and inner life worked in tandem to give her eighteen years of wild productivity, which produced nearly a dozen books. Among her achievements were a Pulitzer Prize, professorships, stardom in a performing musical group called Anne Sexton and Her Kind, attempts to write for theater, and a hectic emotional life, which severely strained her husband, her daughters, and her lovers and friends … In her later years, she reached desperately toward religious belief.”

Anne Sexton page on Amazon

Posthumous works and legacy

One of Anne’s daughters, Linda Gray Sexton, edited the posthumous collections of her poems. These included 45 Mercy Street (1976) and Words for Dr. Y: Uncollected Poems with Three Stories (1978).

Anne Sexton was considered a master at the craft of poetry. To pigeonhole her as a confessional poet undervalues the breadth of her talent. Though many of her poems speak to her personal experience with depression, suicide attempts, and fraught family relationships, a great deal of her work wasn’t at all autobiographical. Her life might have been a trial, but her writing was artful and is firmly established in the canon of American poetry.

More about Anne Sexton on this site

10 Poems by Anne Sexton, Confessional Poet

Major Works

To Bedlam and Part Way Back
Live or Die
The Death Notebooks
Love Poems
All My Pretty Ones
The Awful Rowing Toward God
Transformations
45 Mercy Street
Words for Dr. Y
The Complete Works of Anne Sexton 

More information

Wikipedia
Modern American Poetry
Poetry Foundation
Poem Hunter

Biographies

Anne Sexton: A Biography by Diane Wood Middlebrook
Anne Sexton: A Portrait in Letters edited by Linda Gray Sexton

Research

Anne Sexton papers at the Harry Ransom Center

*This post contains affiliate links. If the product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing

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Ruth Gruber: Journalist, Documentary Photographer, Humanitarian

Ruth Gruber (1911 – 2016) led a life that was so incredible, it could have been a movie. And in fact, just one of the many courageous episodes in her 105-year life was made into a film. Ruth’s multi-faceted career as a journalist and documentary photographer has been somewhat forgotten, and as with many women who were ahead of their time, should be revisited and celebrated.

The daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Ruth was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She was a brilliant student with a passion for Jewish culture, and always loved to write. At age fifteen she started college, and was only twenty when she completed her doctorate in 1931 at the University of Cologne in Germany. That made her the world’s youngest Ph.D at the time.

Being a young Jewish woman in Germany in the early 1930s was risky — the Nazis were coming into power. But risk wasn’t something Ruth avoided. She even went to Nazi rallies, getting a close view of Hitler at one of them. She later recalled that the sound of his twisted, hate-filled voice was one she could never forget. With her first-hand look at the rise of Nazism, Ruth returned to the U.S. and began writing for the New York Herald Tribune. Her first major series was about women’s lives under fascism.

“General” Ruth Gruber

At the start of World War II, Ruth worked as Special Assistant to Harold Ickes, one of President Roosevelt’s cabinet members. In 1944, he assigned her a secret mission — to help rescue Jewish refugees from nineteen Nazi-occupied countries and escort them to the U.S. on a military ship. Numbering nearly one thousand, they were invited as the president’s “guests”  — the only attempt by the U.S. to shelter Jews during the war. 

“You’re going to be given the rank of simulated general,” Ickes told her. “If you’re shot down and the Nazis capture you as a civilian, they can kill you as a spy. But as a general, according to the Geneva Convention, they have to give you food and shelter and keep you alive.”

Ruth escorted the refugees on a perilous ocean journey, only to have the U.S. refuse them, locking them behind barbed-wire in an Ontario fort. Ruth continued to lobby for them until they were finally given asylum in 1946. This dramatic experience inspired the 2001 film Haven, with Natasha Richardson in the role of Ruth Gruber.

British actress Natasha Richardson looked nothing like Ruth Gruber,

but Haven (2001) was a decent film about Ruth’s rescue of nearly 1,000 Jewish refugees

The ship Exodus

After the war, Ruth left her government post and return to journalism. Covering the story of the ship Exodus in 1947 was another dramatic episode in her career. As the ship carrying more than 4,500 Holocaust survivors to what was then Palestine neared the port of Haifa, the British navy intercepted it. The passengers were forced into the already overcrowded refugee camps in Cyprus. As a correspondent for the New York Herald, Ruth documented the barbaric conditions with her camera as well as her pen.

The book she wrote about the experience, Exodus 1947, inspired Leon Uris’s famous book and screenplay, Exodus, which helped turn public sentiment in favor of a Jewish homeland.

In the 1950s, Ruth married and had two children. She slowed down, but not for long. Even getting older didn’t stop her. “Whenever I saw that Jews were in danger,” she declared, “I covered that story.” In 1985, already in her mid-seventies, she did extensive coverage of the rescue of Ethiopian Jews. She continued traveling widely well into her nineties, lecturing about her experiences as a journalist and a witness to history in the making.

Ruth Gruber with Jewish Refugees, 1946 (Ruth is 4th from left in the back row)

Ruth Gruber’s legacy

Ruth Gruber was not only a witness to history as it unfolded, but helped shape historic events, concerning the plight of displaced Jews. She received numerous awards for her work as a journalist and human rights advocate, two sides of her work that often overlapped.

In addition to the television film Haven mentioned above, Ruth’s autobiography’s Ahead of Time: My Early Years as a Foreign Correspondent (1991) was the basis of a documentary. Titled Ahead of Time, this film is quite hard to come by, unfortunately.

“I had two tools to fight injustice — words and images, my typewriter and my camera,” she said. “I just felt that I had to fight evil, and I’ve felt like that since I was 20 years old. And I’ve never been an observer. I have to live a story to write it.”

In addition to the many newspapers she contributed to, Ruth was also the author of nineteen books that detailed her experiences around the globe. Some of her titles in addition to those mentioned earlier include Haven, Raquela, Inside of Time, and Rescue.

Many of Ruth Gruber’s documentary photographs are archived at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Her life and achievements were celebrated in this appreciation and obituary in the New York Times.

A few quotes by Ruth Gruber

“Everyone can look inside his or her soul and decide what he or she can do to make a world at peace, to end this fighting that goes on every day around the world.”

“I had two tools to fight injustice — my typewriter and my camera.”

“You should have dreams, you should have visions. Never let any obstacle stop you.”

Ruth Gruber page on Amazon

More about Ruth Gruber

Wikipedia
Interview on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum website
Ahead of Time (film): The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber
Jewish Women’s Archive
Obituary in the Washington Post

You might also enjoy: 6 Female Journalist of the World War II Era

*This post contains affiliate links. If the product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

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Women’s Writing Conferences and Retreats in the U.S.

Why should you consider attending women’s writing conferences and retreats (including, of course, women-identified writers)? Pretty much the same reason a lot of us enjoy women-only reading groups. Dudes just bring a different energy to the room, and sometimes we just need to be in a setting where our voices are sure to be heard, where we feel supported and valued.

There are lots of benefits to attending writer’s conferences, not the least of which is networking. You’ll meet writers in all stages of their careers; learn to pitch yourself and your work efficiently, hone your skills, get constructive critiques, and more. It’s a rare attendee that doesn’t leave a conference feeling energized and inspired.

Many conferences offer a direct route to meeting agents and editors, as well. This listing of women’s writing conferences and retreats in the U.S. is by no means exhaustive, so if you know of any others we should list, please contact us. We’re planning a listing of global women’s writing conferences soon, so please check back!

Anne LaBastille Women’s Writing Weekend

When: July of each year

Where: Adirondacks, New York State

Learn more: ALWWW

From the website: “Join a group of like-minded women for a reading and writing retreat. Activities will include writing workshops, reflective paddling, arts-based activities, technical writing and experiential learning, and Adirondack-based readings to contemplate the role of sense of place in nature writing.”

BinderCon: The Conference & Community For Women And Gender Variant Writers

When: Last one held in 2017; subscribe at site below for updates

Where: New York City and Los Angeles

Learn more: BinderCon

From the website: “BinderCon is a writing conference and community for women and gender variant writers. Born out of a community of over 37,000 writers, our conference is a uniquely powerful, supportive, and career-changing event.”

C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference

When: November of each year

Where: University of Central Arkansas in Conway

Learn more: C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference

From the website: “The mission of the C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference is to recognize, promote, and encourage women-identifying writers with special emphasis given to writing inspired by or written in the south.”

Festival of Women Writers at Hobart Book Village

When: Early September of each year

Where: Hobart, New York

Learn more: Festival of Women Writers

From the website: “Since its inception, the Festival has created space for established and emerging women writers to share their insights and skills through a variety of writing activities and public readings with audiences throughout Delaware County, the state of New York, and beyond.”

Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival

When: June of each year

Where: Langley & Seattle, WA

Learn more: WPF

From the website: “Hedgebrook offers a variety of opportunities for writers to hone their craft. For over twenty years, the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival has proudly supported the creation and development of hundreds of new theatrical works by some of the most exciting playwrights of our time—who have gone on to become Pulitzer Prize, Tony, Obie, Emmy and Golden Globe award winners, as well as McArthur Genius Fellows.”

International Women’s Writing Guild Summer Conference

When: July of each year

Where: Allentown, PA

Learn more: IWWG Summer Conference

From the website: “Over two dozen workshops ranging from three to six days in length and spanning fiction, poetry, memoir, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, playwriting, writing as performance, social justice, multi-genre, and mixed media.”

Jennifer Louden Retreats and Writing Intensives

When: Several times throughout the year

Where: Taos, NM, Mexico, and other locations

Learn more: Jennifer Louden Retreats and Writing Intensives

From the website: “The retreats I create are among the best on the planet. Wow, that’s a bold claim. Okay, I can’t know that for a fact, but what I do know is hundreds of women over the course of 20+ years have told me, ‘I have been to so many retreats and yours are the best.’”

Kentucky Women’s Writers Conference

When: September of each year

Where: Lexington, KY

Learn more: Kentucky Women’s Writers Conference

From the website: “Kentucky Women Writers is the longest running literary festival of women in the nation, launched by UK in 1979 to showcase the talents and issues unique to female writers.”

Literary Women

When: March of each year

Where: Long Beach, CA

Learn more: Literary Women

From the website: “The committee that organizes the Festival is comprised of twenty-five volunteers. They believe in the continuing need to provide the Long Beach community with a cultural forum which reflects its diversity of literary interests. As succeeding generations of women continue to support the event, it is apparent the intentions of the original committee were well-founded and continue to be relevant today.”

Story Circle Network: For Women with Stories to Tell

When: July of each year

Where: Austin, TX

Learn more: SCN

From the website:“Stories from the Heart IX will bring women from around the country to celebrate our stories and our lives. Through writing, reading, listening, and sharing, we will discover how personal narrative is a healing art, how we can gather our memories, how we can tell our stories. We welcome readers, writers, storytellers, and any woman with a past, present, and future.”

Women Fiction Writer’s Annual Retreat

When: September of each year

Where: Albuquerque

Learn More: WFWA Retreat

From the website: “The WFWA Retreat is a craft and networking event. It’s an opportunity to talk about women’s fiction – both the writing and marketing aspects – with like-minded writers in a relaxed atmosphere.”

Women Reading Aloud

When: April of each year

Where: Sea Girt, NJ

Learn more: WomenReadingAloud.org

From the website: “WOMEN READING ALOUD will host its 9th Writer’s Weekend Retreat in NJ devoted to women writers who are looking for time to write in a nurturing environment … Begin the day with a walk on the beach. Discover your authentic voice through writing workshops modeled after the Amherst Writers and Artists Method. This method allows writers to flourish at every stage of the creative journey.”

Women Writing the West

When: October of each year

Where: Walla Walla, WA

Learn more: WWTW

From the website: “In 2018, Women Writing the West head to the Pacific Northwest for the 24th Annual Conference.” The conference covers many areas of the craft of writing, for women who use the American West as inspiration.

Workshop for Women Writers of Color

When: November of each year

Where: Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA

Learn more: Workshop for Women Writers of Color

From the website: “Welcome women of color writers! We can often find it a lonely and daunting experience as we seek to make our contributions in fields dominated by white men, whether in academia or other genres of fiction or non-fiction. Let us come together as women of color to share our writing work in progress, celebrate our diverse voices, confront our common barriers, and build a sisterly community of support for the challenges ahead.”

Young Women Writers Workshop

When: April of each year

Where: Colorado Springs, CO

Learn more: YWWW

From the website: “As a young woman between the ages of 18 and 30-ish, you’re a unique kind of writer. Your needs and aspirations are different from those of writers who are either of a different generation or are, well, male. You aspire to write about the issues and challenges that face your contemporaries, your world. That means finding forms and structures that are different from what has come before. If that resonates, this retreat is for you.”

Young Women’s Writing Workshop

When: July of each year

Where: Smith College, MA

Learn more: YWWW

From the website: “With so few writing programs that cater exclusively to high school girls, Smith’s Young Women’s Writing Workshop allows you to explore your writing in a creative and supportive environment that fosters your love of writing in a variety of mediums.”

Plus …

If you’re looking for something a little more of a writing vacation, you might enjoy perusing this list of international retreats — some specifically for women.

And finally, there’s the AWP Conference, which is for writers of all genders, but we list it here because it’s kind of the grand dame of writers conferences — four jam-packed days of readings, workshops, and panels. Probably an amazing networking event. As their site says, “Everyone should go to AWP at least once.”

When: Spring; usually March or April

Where: Location changes each year

Learn more: AWP Conference

From the website: “The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) is one of the largest and most popular writing conferences in the world. With more than 15,000 annual participants and 800 exhibitors, it’s more than a conference or book fair – it’s an event. AWP is an essential experience for writers, students, teachers and academics alike.”

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Jane on the Brain: Jane Austen and Empathy

Jane on the Brain: Exploring the Science of Social Intelligence with Jane Austen by Wendy Jones (Pegasus Books, © 2017) is an exploration of how Jane Austen was able to capture human psychology via relatable characters in compelling stories. Following is an excerpt from the book introducing the role of empathy in Austen’s novels, but first, a few words from the publisher:

“Why is Jane Austen so phenomenally popular? Why do we read Pride and Prejudice again and again? Why do we delight in Emma’s mischievous schemes? Why do we care about the suffering of Anne Elliot in Persuasion?

We care because it is our biological destiny to be interested in people and their stories — the human brain is a social brain. And Austen’s characters are so believable that, for many of us, they are not just imaginary beings, but friends whom we know and love. And thanks to Austen’s ability to capture the breadth and depth of human psychology so richly, we feel that she empathizes with us, her readers.

… An Austen scholar and practicing therapist, Wendy Jones explores the many facets of social intelligence and juxtaposes them with the Austen canon. Brilliantly original and insightful, this fusion of literature, psychology, and neuroscience provides a heightened understanding of one of our most beloved cultural institutions — and our own minds.”

The following excerpt is from Jane on the Brain: Exploring the Science of Social Intelligence with Jane Austen, © 2017 by Wendy Jones (Pegasus Books). Reprinted with permission. All other rights reserved.

Jane Austen’s stories: Mirroring, identification and empathy

Jane Austen’s stories not only convey empathy through mirroring and identification, but they’re about empathy as well — who has it, who lacks it, and how some of her characters deepen their capacity for this important quality. Her novels get us to focus on the experience of empathy (neuroscientists would say they prime us to think about it) by showing its value repeatedly.

So we find ourselves reflected in novels that are all about the value of being able to find yourself reflected in other minds and hearts. Yet we’re not fascinated by empathy because it’s brought to our attentions, but rather we pay attention because empathy is essential to our well-being. And this is yet another reason we’re drawn to Austen — she understands this about us.

Perhaps it seems strange to characterize Austen’s novels as being about empathy. After all, Austen’s great subject is love: its different varieties, its frustrations, its nuances, and, above all, its satisfactions. And not just love between couples, but also between friends, parents and children, siblings. Austen certainly understood this most precious of human emotional resources.

Jane on the Brain by Wendy Jones is available in all formats on Amazon

and wherever books are sold

Placing empathy front and center

But there’s no contradiction here. Austen’s novels show again and again that the most complete and satisfying relationships rely on perspective taking, understanding, and emotional resonance. Whatever its other features—gratitude, esteem, passion, nurturing—at its core, true love is empathy. Think about all of Austen’s happy couples and you’ll see that this is the case. Anne of Persuasion might be more intuitive and passionate than Elizabeth of Pride and Prejudice, but sensitivity and understanding lead to happy endings for both of them.

In placing empathy front and center, Austen knew what she was doing. For Austen is no mere copyist of nature, but a deeply thoughtful novelist who explores the morality as well as the psychology of the social brain, those aspects of the mind-brain that imbue our relationships.

This was brought home to me recently when I tried to read the novelist Georgette Heyer, a twentieth-century writer who emulated Austen. Here were all the window dressings of Austen’s fiction, the Masterpiece Theatre costumes, plots, and themes, but hollowed out, not only of Austen’s distinctively brilliant style, but also of her philosophical and psychological depth. With apologies to all the Austen fans who cut their teeth on Heyer, I found her unreadable. In the humble guise of the novel of manners, a genre that focuses on social conduct, Austen’s works draw out the moral implications of being human: What do we owe one another ethically, and how do we go about fulfilling this obligation?

The simple answer: We owe one another the kinds of consideration and treatment that help all of us not only to satisfy our basic needs, but to achieve well-being and self-esteem. And this depends on empathy, the key to understanding another person’s needs. And so Emma caters to her needy, hypochondriacal, and often ridiculous father in Emma. So Edmund becomes young Fanny’s friend and advocate in Mansfield Park. So Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice tolerates the more absurd members of her family with calm consideration.

In that last family, we might note that it’s with regard to this fundamental ethical obligation that Mr. Bennet fails so completely. Rather than helping his foolish wife to develop whatever potential she might have, he retreats to sarcasm to console himself for having to endure her company. As a result, she remains as silly as ever, learning only to ignore a husband she can’t understand and who doesn’t empathize with her.

You might also enjoy: The Biggest Myth About Jane Austen’s Writing Life

Sympathizing with others’ points of view

When Austen’s characters demonstrate kindness and tolerance, it’s because they’re able to imagine and sympathize with life from the point of view others. Emma indulges her father’s many absurdities because she can see that his worries are real to him. Edmund imagines what it’s like to be young, lonely, and intimidated in a new place, and so he’s kind to Fanny. Elizabeth knows that she might not be able to change her mother, but that failing to show her respect would be hurtful and accomplish nothing.

Austen’s best heroine, Anne Elliot of Persuasion, owes her goodness and capability to her capacity for empathy. She can see from others’ perspectives, and this guides her feelings and behavior. As Wentworth, the man she loves, eventually realizes, there is “no one so proper, so capable, as Anne.”

Empathy is the core quality of all moral action

For Austen, empathy is the core quality of all moral action. Here, Austen agrees with the philosopher David Hume, a near contemporary. In our own day, similar conclusions have been advanced by Simon Baron-Cohen, a neuroscientist who equates evil with a lack of empathy, and Frans de Waal, a philosopher and primatologist who views our capacity for moral action as grounded in empathy, which we find in less developed forms in other primates.

Above and beyond the kindness and understanding that empathy creates, it’s valuable because it unlocks the prison house of cosmic loneliness that threatens each of us with a life sentence of solitary confinement. Anglo-European politics, philosophy, and psychology have emphasized our separateness, condemned us without a trial, insisting that we’re stuck in a container, the body, looking out through windows, the eyes. We’re born alone and we die alone, even if other people are near us for these two defining events in the life cycle of every human.

But the latest work in social intelligence tells us that we’re profoundly interconnected in terms of brain, body, and mind. This has been a key insight of the literary imagination all along, that fund of wisdom and observation found in literature. In terms of understanding our connections with one another, no author is greater than Austen. And she shows that such connections depend on empathy, on being able to enter into the thoughts and feelings of others. Through such exchanges, people find meaning and purpose in their lives.

Learn more about Wendy Jones:

Facebook.com/WendyJonesAuthor
Instagram.com/WendyJonesAuthor
Twitter.com/JaneBrainBook
Goodreads.com/author/show/17563171.Wendy_Jones

See also: On First Reading Pride and Prejudice

*This post contains affiliate links. If the product is purchased by linking through, The Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

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“Objects” from Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (1914)

One of Gertrude Stein’s earliest published works, Tender Buttons (1914) is this delightfully perplexing author’s attempt to “create a word relationship between the word and the things seen.” 

Especially in the first years since its publication, critics have been divided between praising Tender Buttons as a masterwork of of experimental cubist literature, or trashing it as pure nonsense. Contemporary interpretations tend to find it praiseworthy. Whatever camp you find yourself in, it’s hard to dismiss the fact that this slim volume of prose poetry is entertaining, if more than occasionally head-scratching. You can read two original reviews from the time of its 1914 publication here.

Tender Buttons is divided into more or less equal parts: “Objects,” “Food,” and “Rooms.” Following is the portion “Objects” in its entirety; you can read the rest of the book on Project Gutenberg, as it is in the public domain, but there is such pleasure in reading it as a book in hand rather than on a screen. Tender Buttons is in the public domain.

“Objects” from Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein

A CARAFE, THAT IS A BLIND GLASS.

A kind in glass and a cousin, a spectacle and nothing strange a single hurt color and an arrangement in a system to pointing. All this and not ordinary, not unordered in not resembling. The difference is spreading.

GLAZED GLITTER.

Nickel, what is nickel, it is originally rid of a cover.

The change in that is that red weakens an hour. The change has come. There is no search. But there is, there is that hope and that interpretation and sometime, surely any is unwelcome, sometime there is breath and there will be a sinecure and charming very charming is that clean and cleansing. Certainly glittering is handsome and convincing.

There is no gratitude in mercy and in medicine. There can be breakages in Japanese. That is no programme. That is no color chosen. It was chosen yesterday, that showed spitting and perhaps washing and polishing. It certainly showed no obligation and perhaps if borrowing is not natural there is some use in giving.

A SUBSTANCE IN A CUSHION.

The change of color is likely and a difference a very little difference is prepared. Sugar is not a vegetable.

Callous is something that hardening leaves behind what will be soft if there is a genuine interest in there being present as many girls as men. Does this change. It shows that dirt is clean when there is a volume.

A cushion has that cover. Supposing you do not like to change, supposing it is very clean that there is no change in appearance, supposing that there is regularity and a costume is that any the worse than an oyster and an exchange. Come to season that is there any extreme use in feather and cotton. Is there not much more joy in a table and more chairs and very likely roundness and a place to put them.

A circle of fine card board and a chance to see a tassel.

What is the use of a violent kind of delightfulness if there is no pleasure in not getting tired of it. The question does not come before there is a quotation. In any kind of place there is a top to covering and it is a pleasure at any rate there is some venturing in refusing to believe nonsense. It shows what use there is in a whole piece if one uses it and it is extreme and very likely the little things could be dearer but in any case there is a bargain and if there is the best thing to do is to take it away and wear it and then be reckless be reckless and resolved on returning gratitude.

Light blue and the same red with purple makes a change. It shows that there is no mistake. Any pink shows that and very likely it is reasonable. Very likely there should not be a finer fancy present. Some increase means a calamity and this is the best preparation for three and more being together. A little calm is so ordinary and in any case there is sweetness and some of that.

A seal and matches and a swan and ivy and a suit.

A closet, a closet does not connect under the bed. The band if it is white and black, the band has a green string. A sight a whole sight and a little groan grinding makes a trimming such a sweet singing trimming and a red thing not a round thing but a white thing, a red thing and a white thing.

The disgrace is not in carelessness nor even in sewing it comes out out of the way.

What is the sash like. The sash is not like anything mustard it is not like a same thing that has stripes, it is not even more hurt than that, it has a little top.

Tender Buttons: Objects by Gertrude Stein 

presents the first third of the book only, with illustrations by Lisa Congdon

Available on Amazon

A BOX.

Out of kindness comes redness and out of rudeness comes rapid same question, out of an eye comes research, out of selection comes painful cattle. So then the order is that a white way of being round is something suggesting a pin and is it disappointing, it is not, it is so rudimentary to be analysed and see a fine substance strangely, it is so earnest to have a green point not to red but to point again.

A PIECE OF COFFEE.

More of double.

A place in no new table.

A single image is not splendor. Dirty is yellow. A sign of more in not mentioned. A piece of coffee is not a detainer. The resemblance to yellow is dirtier and distincter. The clean mixture is whiter and not coal color, never more coal color than altogether.

The sight of a reason, the same sight slighter, the sight of a simpler negative answer, the same sore sounder, the intention to wishing, the same splendor, the same furniture.

The time to show a message is when too late and later there is no hanging in a blight.

A not torn rose-wood color. If it is not dangerous then a pleasure and more than any other if it is cheap is not cheaper. The amusing side is that the sooner there are no fewer the more certain is the necessity dwindled. Supposing that the case contained rose-wood and a color. Supposing that there was no reason for a distress and more likely for a number, supposing that there was no astonishment, is it not necessary to mingle astonishment.

The settling of stationing cleaning is one way not to shatter scatter and scattering. The one way to use custom is to use soap and silk for cleaning. The one way to see cotton is to have a design concentrating the illusion and the illustration. The perfect way is to accustom the thing to have a lining and the shape of a ribbon and to be solid, quite solid in standing and to use heaviness in morning. It is light enough in that. It has that shape nicely. Very nicely may not be exaggerating. Very strongly may be sincerely fainting. May be strangely flattering. May not be strange in everything. May not be strange to.

DIRT AND NOT COPPER.

Dirt and not copper makes a color darker. It makes the shape so heavy and makes no melody harder.

It makes mercy and relaxation and even a strength to spread a table fuller. There are more places not empty. They see cover.

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (the centennial edition) on Amazon

NOTHING ELEGANT.

A charm a single charm is doubtful. If the red is rose and there is a gate surrounding it, if inside is let in and there places change then certainly something is upright. It is earnest.

MILDRED’S UMBRELLA.

A cause and no curve, a cause and loud enough, a cause and extra a loud clash and an extra wagon, a sign of extra, a sac a small sac and an established color and cunning, a slender grey and no ribbon, this means a loss a great loss a restitution.

A METHOD OF A CLOAK.

A single climb to a line, a straight exchange to a cane, a desperate adventure and courage and a clock, all this which is a system, which has feeling, which has resignation and success, all makes an attractive black silver.

A RED STAMP.

If lilies are lily white if they exhaust noise and distance and even dust, if they dusty will dirt a surface that has no extreme grace, if they do this and it is not necessary it is not at all necessary if they do this they need a catalogue.

A BOX.

A large box is handily made of what is necessary to replace any substance. Suppose an example is necessary, the plainer it is made the more reason there is for some outward recognition that there is a result.

A box is made sometimes and them to see to see to it neatly and to have the holes stopped up makes it necessary to use paper.

A custom which is necessary when a box is used and taken is that a large part of the time there are three which have different connections. The one is on the table. The two are on the table. The three are on the table. The one, one is the same length as is shown by the cover being longer. The other is different there is more cover that shows it. The other is different and that makes the corners have the same shade the eight are in singular arrangement to make four necessary.

Lax, to have corners, to be lighter than some weight, to indicate a wedding journey, to last brown and not curious, to be wealthy, cigarettes are established by length and by doubling.

Left open, to be left pounded, to be left closed, to be circulating in summer and winter, and sick color that is grey that is not dusty and red shows, to be sure cigarettes do measure an empty length sooner than a choice in color.

Winged, to be winged means that white is yellow and pieces pieces that are brown are dust color if dust is washed off, then it is choice that is to say it is fitting cigarettes sooner than paper.

An increase why is an increase idle, why is silver cloister, why is the spark brighter, if it is brighter is there any result, hardly more than ever.

You might also like: 16 Slightly Absurd Quotes by Gertrude Stein

A PLATE.

An occasion for a plate, an occasional resource is in buying and how soon does washing enable a selection of the same thing neater. If the party is small a clever song is in order.

Plates and a dinner set of colored china. Pack together a string and enough with it to protect the centre, cause a considerable haste and gather more as it is cooling, collect more trembling and not any even trembling, cause a whole thing to be a church.

A sad size a size that is not sad is blue as every bit of blue is precocious. A kind of green a game in green and nothing flat nothing quite flat and more round, nothing a particular color strangely, nothing breaking the losing of no little piece.

A splendid address a really splendid address is not shown by giving a flower freely, it is not shown by a mark or by wetting.

Cut cut in white, cut in white so lately. Cut more than any other and show it. Show it in the stem and in starting and in evening coming complication.

A lamp is not the only sign of glass. The lamp and the cake are not the only sign of stone. The lamp and the cake and the cover are not the only necessity altogether.

A plan a hearty plan, a compressed disease and no coffee, not even a card or a change to incline each way, a plan that has that excess and that break is the one that shows filling.

A SELTZER BOTTLE.

Any neglect of many particles to a cracking, any neglect of this makes around it what is lead in color and certainly discolor in silver. The use of this is manifold. Supposing a certain time selected is assured, suppose it is even necessary, suppose no other extract is permitted and no more handling is needed, suppose the rest of the message is mixed with a very long slender needle and even if it could be any black border, supposing all this altogether made a dress and suppose it was actual, suppose the mean way to state it was occasional, if you suppose this in August and even more melodiously, if you suppose this even in the necessary incident of there certainly being no middle in summer and winter, suppose this and an elegant settlement a very elegant settlement is more than of consequence, it is not final and sufficient and substituted. This which was so kindly a present was constant.

A LONG DRESS.

What is the current that makes machinery, that makes it crackle, what is the current that presents a long line and a necessary waist. What is this current.

What is the wind, what is it.

Where is the serene length, it is there and a dark place is not a dark place, only a white and red are black, only a yellow and green are blue, a pink is scarlet, a bow is every color. A line distinguishes it. A line just distinguishes it.

A RED HAT.

A dark grey, a very dark grey, a quite dark grey is monstrous ordinarily, it is so monstrous because there is no red in it. If red is in everything it is not necessary. Is that not an argument for any use of it and even so is there any place that is better, is there any place that has so much stretched out.

A BLUE COAT.

A blue coat is guided guided away, guided and guided away, that is the particular color that is used for that length and not any width not even more than a shadow.

A PIANO.

If the speed is open, if the color is careless, if the selection of a strong scent is not awkward, if the button holder is held by all the waving color and there is no color, not any color. If there is no dirt in a pin and there can be none scarcely, if there is not then the place is the same as up standing.

This is no dark custom and it even is not acted in any such a way that a restraint is not spread. That is spread, it shuts and it lifts and awkwardly not awkwardly the centre is in standing.

A CHAIR.

A widow in a wise veil and more garments shows that shadows are even. It addresses no more, it shadows the stage and learning. A regular arrangement, the severest and the most preserved is that which has the arrangement not more than always authorised.

A suitable establishment, well housed, practical, patient and staring, a suitable bedding, very suitable and not more particularly than complaining, anything suitable is so necessary.

A fact is that when the direction is just like that, no more, longer, sudden and at the same time not any sofa, the main action is that without a blaming there is no custody.

Practice measurement, practice the sign that means that really means a necessary betrayal, in showing that there is wearing.

Hope, what is a spectacle, a spectacle is the resemblance between the circular side place and nothing else, nothing else.

To choose it is ended, it is actual and more than that it has it certainly has the same treat, and a seat all that is practiced and more easily much more easily ordinarily.

Pick a barn, a whole barn, and bend more slender accents than have ever been necessary, shine in the darkness necessarily. Actually not aching, actually not aching, a stubborn bloom is so artificial and even more than that, it is a spectacle, it is a binding accident, it is animosity and accentuation.

If the chance to dirty diminishing is necessary, if it is why is there no complexion, why is there no rubbing, why is there no special protection.

A FRIGHTFUL RELEASE.

A bag which was left and not only taken but turned away was not found. The place was shown to be very like the last time. A piece was not exchanged, not a bit of it, a piece was left over. The rest was mismanaged.

A PURSE.

A purse was not green, it was not straw color, it was hardly seen and it had a use a long use and the chain, the chain was never missing, it was not misplaced, it showed that it was open, that is all that it showed.

A MOUNTED UMBRELLA.

What was the use of not leaving it there where it would hang what was the use if there was no chance of ever seeing it come there and show that it was handsome and right in the way it showed it. The lesson is to learn that it does show it, that it shows it and that nothing, that there is nothing, that there is no more to do about it and just so much more is there plenty of reason for making an exchange.

A CLOTH.

Enough cloth is plenty and more, more is almost enough for that and besides if there is no more spreading is there plenty of room for it. Any occasion shows the best way.

MORE.

An elegant use of foliage and grace and a little piece of white cloth and oil.

Wondering so winningly in several kinds of oceans is the reason that makes red so regular and enthusiastic. The reason that there is more snips are the same shining very colored rid of no round color.

A NEW CUP AND SAUCER.

Enthusiastically hurting a clouded yellow bud and saucer, enthusiastically so is the bite in the ribbon.

OBJECTS.

Within, within the cut and slender joint alone, with sudden equals and no more than three, two in the centre make two one side.

If the elbow is long and it is filled so then the best example is all together.

The kind of show is made by squeezing.

Gertrude Stein Quotes to Perplex and Delight

EYE GLASSES.

A color in shaving, a saloon is well placed in the centre of an alley.

CUTLET.

A blind agitation is manly and uttermost.

CARELESS WATER.

No cup is broken in more places and mended, that is to say a plate is broken and mending does do that it shows that culture is Japanese. It shows the whole element of angels and orders. It does more to choosing and it does more to that ministering counting. It does, it does change in more water.

Supposing a single piece is a hair supposing more of them are orderly, does that show that strength, does that show that joint, does that show that balloon famously. Does it.

A PAPER.

A courteous occasion makes a paper show no such occasion and this makes readiness and eyesight and likeness and a stool.

A DRAWING.

The meaning of this is entirely and best to say the mark, best to say it best to show sudden places, best to make bitter, best to make the length tall and nothing broader, anything between the half.

WATER RAINING.

Water astonishing and difficult altogether makes a meadow and a stroke.

COLD CLIMATE.

A season in yellow sold extra strings makes lying places.

MALACHITE.

The sudden spoon is the same in no size. The sudden spoon is the wound in the decision.

AN UMBRELLA.

Coloring high means that the strange reason is in front not more in front behind. Not more in front in peace of the dot.

A PETTICOAT.

A light white, a disgrace, an ink spot, a rosy charm.

A WAIST.

A star glide, a single frantic sullenness, a single financial grass greediness.

Object that is in wood. Hold the pine, hold the dark, hold in the rush, make the bottom.

A piece of crystal. A change, in a change that is remarkable there is no reason to say that there was a time.

A woolen object gilded. A country climb is the best disgrace, a couple of practices any of them in order is so left.

A TIME TO EAT.

A pleasant simple habitual and tyrannical and authorised and educated and resumed and articulate separation. This is not tardy.

A LITTLE BIT OF A TUMBLER.

A shining indication of yellow consists in there having been more of the same color than could have been expected when all four were bought. This was the hope which made the six and seven have no use for any more places and this necessarily spread into nothing. Spread into nothing.

A FIRE.

What was the use of a whole time to send and not send if there was to be the kind of thing that made that come in. A letter was nicely sent.

A HANDKERCHIEF.

A winning of all the blessings, a sample not a sample because there is no worry.

RED ROSES.

A cool red rose and a pink cut pink, a collapse and a sold hole, a little less hot.

IN BETWEEN.

In between a place and candy is a narrow foot-path that shows more mounting than anything, so much really that a calling meaning a bolster measured a whole thing with that. A virgin a whole virgin is judged made and so between curves and outlines and real seasons and more out glasses and a perfectly unprecedented arrangement between old ladies and mild colds there is no satin wood shining.

COLORED HATS.

Colored hats are necessary to show that curls are worn by an addition of blank spaces, this makes the difference between single lines and broad stomachs, the least thing is lightening, the least thing means a little flower and a big delay a big delay that makes more nurses than little women really little women. So clean is a light that nearly all of it shows pearls and little ways. A large hat is tall and me and all custard whole.

A FEATHER.

A feather is trimmed, it is trimmed by the light and the bug and the post, it is trimmed by little leaning and by all sorts of mounted reserves and loud volumes. It is surely cohesive.

A BROWN.

A brown which is not liquid not more so is relaxed and yet there is a change, a news is pressing.

A LITTLE CALLED PAULINE.

A little called anything shows shudders.

Come and say what prints all day. A whole few watermelon. There is no pope.

No cut in pennies and little dressing and choose wide soles and little spats really little spices.

A little lace makes boils. This is not true.

Gracious of gracious and a stamp a blue green white bow a blue green lean, lean on the top.

If it is absurd then it is leadish and nearly set in where there is a tight head.

A peaceful life to arise her, noon and moon and moon. A letter a cold sleeve a blanket a shaving house and nearly the best and regular window.

Nearer in fairy sea, nearer and farther, show white has lime in sight, show a stitch of ten. Count, count more so that thicker and thicker is leaning.

I hope she has her cow. Bidding a wedding, widening received treading, little leading mention nothing.

Cough out cough out in the leather and really feather it is not for.

Please could, please could, jam it not plus more sit in when.

A SOUND.

Elephant beaten with candy and little pops and chews all bolts and reckless reckless rats, this is this.

A TABLE.

A table means does it not my dear it means a whole steadiness. Is it likely that a change.

A table means more than a glass even a looking glass is tall. A table means necessary places and a revision a revision of a little thing it means it does mean that there has been a stand, a stand where it did shake.

SHOES.

To be a wall with a damper a stream of pounding way and nearly enough choice makes a steady midnight. It is pus.

A shallow hole rose on red, a shallow hole in and in this makes ale less. It shows shine.

A DOG.

A little monkey goes like a donkey that means to say that means to say that more sighs last goes. Leave with it. A little monkey goes like a donkey.

A WHITE HUNTER.

A white hunter is nearly crazy.

A LEAVE.

In the middle of a tiny spot and nearly bare there is a nice thing to say that wrist is leading. Wrist is leading.

SUPPOSE AN EYES.

Suppose it is within a gate which open is open at the hour of closing summer that is to say it is so.

All the seats are needing blackening. A white dress is in sign. A soldier a real soldier has a worn lace a worn lace of different sizes that is to say if he can read, if he can read he is a size to show shutting up twenty-four.

Go red go red, laugh white.

Suppose a collapse in rubbed purr, in rubbed purr get.

Little sales ladies little sales ladies little saddles of mutton.

Little sales of leather and such beautiful beautiful, beautiful beautiful.

A SHAWL.

A shawl is a hat and hurt and a red balloon and an under coat and a sizer a sizer of talks.

A shawl is a wedding, a piece of wax a little build. A shawl.

Pick a ticket, pick it in strange steps and with hollows. There is hollow hollow belt, a belt is a shawl.

A plate that has a little bobble, all of them, any so.

Please a round it is ticket.

It was a mistake to state that a laugh and a lip and a laid climb and a depot and a cultivator and little choosing is a point it.

BOOK.

Book was there, it was there. Book was there. Stop it, stop it, it was a cleaner, a wet cleaner and it was not where it was wet, it was not high, it was directly placed back, not back again, back it was returned, it was needless, it put a bank, a bank when, a bank care.

Suppose a man a realistic expression of resolute reliability suggests pleasing itself white all white and no head does that mean soap. It does not so. It means kind wavers and little chance to beside beside rest. A plain.

Suppose ear rings, that is one way to breed, breed that. Oh chance to say, oh nice old pole. Next best and nearest a pillar. Chest not valuable, be papered.

Cover up cover up the two with a little piece of string and hope rose and green, green.

Please a plate, put a match to the seam and really then really then, really then it is a remark that joins many many lead games. It is a sister and sister and a flower and a flower and a dog and a colored sky a sky colored grey and nearly that nearly that let.

PEELED PENCIL, CHOKE.

Rub her coke.

IT WAS BLACK, BLACK TOOK.

Black ink best wheel bale brown.

Excellent not a hull house, not a pea soup, no bill no care, no precise no past pearl pearl goat.

THIS IS THE DRESS, AIDER.

Aider, why aider why whow, whow stop touch, aider whow, aider stop the muncher, muncher munchers.

A jack in kill her, a jack in, makes a meadowed king, makes a to let.

More about Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein

Wikipedia
The Making of Tender Buttons
Reader discussion on Goodreads
Tender Buttons in the New Yorker (1934)

*This post contains affiliate links. If the product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post “Objects” from Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (1914) appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein: Experiment in Cubist Poetry, or Literary Prank?

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (1874 – 1946) is this gloriously perplexing author’s absurdist collection of prose-poems — if you want to call them that. Critics have long been divided as to whether this 1914 book is a brilliant compilation of cubist literature or Stein’s intentional prank on the reading public.

One of Stein’s earliest published works, Tender Buttons is an experiment in language, her attempt to “create a word relationship between the word and the things seen.” Since Stein was so much the self-proclaimed genius, it’s doubtful she would have created this slim volume purely as a joke.

In the intervening years since its publication, Tender Buttons has either been praised as a masterpiece of cubist literature or dismissed as utter gibberish. Poetry scholar Marjorie Perloff, in the essay “The Difference is Spreading,” wrote that Stein “does not give us an image, however fractured, of a carafe on a table; rather. she forces us to reconsider how language actually constructs the world we know.”

Following are two original reviews of Tender Buttons from when it was first published in the summer of 1914. Both exhibit baffled bemusement at what was described as literary cubism, but neither can disguise a fair amount of entertainment from this first published work by the eminent Gertrude Stein.

Gyrations with words

From the original review and excerpt in The Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1914: Tender Buttons is the most recent product of Miss Gertrude Stein, the literary Cubist. Miss Stein, an affluent American residing in Paris, has been for years the high priestess of the new artists, the Cubists and Futurists, and her home is an amazing museum of their baffling output.

Her own gyrations with words have been printed before but privately. Tender Buttons is the first volume to be vouchsafed the public.

In it, Miss Stein ventures further than ever before. The final shackle to be struck from context, each unit of the sentence stands out independent and has no commerce with its fellows. It is a nightmare journey in unknown and uncharted seas.

Miss Stein’s followers believe she has added a new dimension to literature; scoffers call her writing a mad jumble of words, and some of them suspect she is having a sardonic one at the expense of those who profess to believe in her.

Tender Buttons is a sort of trilogy on “Objects,” “Food,” and “Rooms.” It is not clear whether the “tender” of the title means a rowboat, a fuel car attached to a locomotive, or is an expression of humane emotions.

You might also like: Gertrude Stein Quotes to Perplex and Delight

We do not know what “Tender Buttons” means

From the original review in The Pittsburgh Daily Post, July 4, 1914: Cubism in literature would seem to transcend all the bounds of possibility. Yet the work of Gertrude Stein reveals with almost stunning obviousness that the forward movement is not confined to painting. Tender Buttons is said to be Gertrude Stein’s first book in the new idiom to be published in America. Parenthetically it might be well to remark that we do not know what “Tender Buttons” means.

To be quite frank the first emotion one experiences on reading Gertrude Stein is amusement. When, under the title “Cold Climate,” one reads “A season in yellow sold extra strings makes lying places,” one can only laugh heartily at what appears to be errant nonsense, unless one is enraged at the thought that one is being made sport of.

Gertrude Stein has not deigned, we believe, to make any explanation of her work. From her work we know only this: that no word, seemingly, has any connection with any other; and that literal meaning is avoided.

Dimly we seem to have heard that she simply writes what words come into her mind in connection with the impression of a certain object. In this case to see meaning in these strange rambling, impossible sentences would seem to be like turning one’s back upon the key to them.

To seek impressions of the bare words and their individual suggestions would seem less futile. Yet this method yields only scant results. Undeniably, however, something is conveyed by following, the first — shall we say impression? — in the book. How much depends upon the imaginative powers of the reader.

A CARAFE, THAT IS A BLIND GLASS.

A kind in glass and a cousin, a spectacle and nothing strange a single hurt color and an arrangement in a system to pointing. All this and not ordinary, not unordered in not resembling. The difference is spreading.

Read the rest of the first portion of Tender Buttons, “Objects,” by linking to this post.

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (the centennial edition) on Amazon

More about Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein

Wikipedia
The Making of Tender Buttons
Reader discussion on Goodreads
Tender Buttons in the New Yorker (1934)

*This post contains affiliate links. If the product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein: Experiment in Cubist Poetry, or Literary Prank? appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy

Marilla of Green Gables is a 2018 novel by Sarah McCoy, an imaginative historical journey that imagines the life of Marilla Cuthbert long before she and her brother Matthew adopt Anne Shirley, better known to readers asAnne of Green Gables.

The release of novels like this one, that draw on beloved characters created by women authors, or that reimagine the life of the authors themselves, prove that our classic Literary Ladies live on in many forms, are still relevant, and resonate with contemporary readers.

From the publisher, William Morrow: For anyone who loves the original Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery and longs for more stories from Prince Edward Island, Marilla of Green Gables, a new novel by New York Times Bestselling author Sarah McCoy (William Morrow, October 23, 2018) will be an incredibly rewarding rewarding return to the beloved stories.

Anyone who has devoured the original series knows Marilla as the stern yet loving spinster (as unmarried women were then termed), who, along with her bachelor brother Matthew who adopt the plucky and imaginative orphan Anne, even though they had requested a boy to help around the farm. This new novel is a beautifully wrought imagining of how Marilla got to be who she was, with a deliciously feminist spin.

Marilla of Green Gables is a marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century. It follows the young life of Marilla Cuthbert, and the choices that will open her life to the possibility of heartbreak — and unimaginable greatness.

Plucky and ambitious, in the new novel Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, and father.

Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world.

Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. She raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia. She embarks on a romance with the charming son of a neighbor, who offers her a possibility of future happiness — but Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another.

She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition — jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her new beau.

Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.

About the author: Sarah McCoy is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. McCoy’s work has been featured in Real Simple, The Millions, Your Health Monthly, Huffington Post and other publications. She has taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. She lives with her husband, an orthopedic sports surgeon, and their dog, Gilbert, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Visit her at SarahMcCoy.com.

You might also enjoy: Marilla of Green Gables: A Future Feminist

Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy is available on Amazon.com

and wherever books are sold

PRAISE for MARILLA OF GREEN GABLES

“Prepare to meet Marilla, a captivating heroine who will transport you back to the treasured world of Anne of Green Gables. Rich in historical detail, this charming novel vividly explores love, loss, friendship, and the coming-to-self of a girl on the cusp of womanhood.”

— Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees

“L.M. Montgomery’s Marilla Cuthbert flares to life in Sarah McCoy’s enchanting novel of Avonlea. Her story of wrenching family sacrifice and the enduring pleasures of home, is as much a love letter to the world of Green Gables as it is a breath of fresh air. Hats off to McCoy for enlivening this classic with such heart and grace.”

— Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin

“Another girl once came of age at Green Gables. Spunky, smart, buffeted by tides of duty and ambition, loss and love, young Marilla finds her voice in Sarah McCoy’s beautiful rendering of a beloved place, a complex woman, and a long-ago time. Deftly and tenderly told, Marilla of Green Gables is a must read for anyone who adored Avonlea and Anne and ever wondered, what came before?”

—Lisa Wingate,New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

“Sarah McCoy has given readers a precious gift: the opportunity to step back into the world of Avonlea, and the chance to get to know Marilla Cuthbert as a leading lady in her own right. In McCoy’s skillful and sensitive hands, Marilla emerges as a heroine of depth, complexity, and heart. I savored my time with this cast of old friends, enjoying the dilemma of whether to speed through these compelling pages or to pause and relish everything about the lovely world imagined within them.”

— Allison Pataki, New York Timesbestselling author

*This post contains affiliate links. If the product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Marilla of Green Gables: A Future Feminist

Sarah McCoy, author of Marilla of Green Gables (2018) explores the formidable yet loving Marilla Cuthbert (who raises the irrepressible orphan Anne Shirley, better known as Anne of Green Gables) in this meditation on family, community, and character:

It’s clear from the first chapter of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s acclaimed Anne of Green Gables who is in charge: Marilla Cuthbert.

My mother first read this novel to me, and I didn’t bat an eyelash at the clear delineation of matriarchal power. I grew up in a military household. My father was an officer frequently away on TDY (Temporary Duty), deployments, and long hours at his army post. So from the beginning, my mother ruled the roost, and we were not the anomaly.

For most I knew, a no-nonsense queen commander was the standard. It wasn’t until I was much older that I first questioned why the rest of the country hadn’t caught on — no woman president, four-star general or chief justice, not to mention a female priest, pastor, or pope.

But as far as Montgomery’s fictional Avonlea was concerned, women were boss. Anne of Green Gables opens with Marilla sending her brother Matthew to the train depot to collect an orphan, and it is only by Marilla’s authority that the child, Anne Shirley, is allowed to stay on at Green Gables.

I’ve read Montgomery’s Anne novels forward and backward. While most scholars are quick to identify Anne as the early feminist, with closer examination, it’s unquestionably Marilla that Montgomery empowers, far before our modern feminism was coined. Given Montgomery’s matriarchal family history, this does not surprise.

Learn more about Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy

Marilla of Green Gables is available on Amazon

and wherever books are sold

Montgomery’s mother died when she was an infant. Her father moved west to what is now the Saskatchewan Province, remarried, and had a new family. So for all intents and purposes, Montgomery was an orphan who found refuge under the roofs of her maternal grandmother and aunts in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. For her, it was the women that created and controlled the worlds she knew. The death of her mother, Clara, was the catalytic start. The void Clara left behind was too large for her father to fill. It took a village of women to raise her, as mirrored in her famous Avonlea.

Growing up, I felt like I knew that village. My mother is one of three girls and a boy. My titis (aunties), tio (uncle) and abuelitos (grandparents) were consistent, commanding forces of good in my life. We were blessed to be stationed in locations that allowed us to be together and when we weren’t, my extended family would often gather for long visits—weeks, holidays, whole summers. Family vacations to our Puerto Rican village of Aibonito were a staple.

I joke that we are related to nearly everyone in town, and that’s no hyperbole. Everyone is a great titi, great tio, or distant cousin. So Montgomery’s Avonlea structure was familiar to me. My Aibonito was the only place I felt wholly grounded and tied to a lineage. I counted on it for stability during a military childhood continually in flux and missing parts (my father).

In particular, I was extremely close with my titis and abuelita. There was an entire woman’s world, distinct from the rest of my loving family and magical—or seemingly so to my girlhood self. The women daily gathered in the kitchen to cook and tell secrets. My abuelita taught me to crack a coconut, fry chicken, play Spades, and crochet anything I could dream up, all round the old wooden chopping table. There too, my titis taught me to laugh generously, love fiercely, wear bright red lipstick (because it’s fun), and to sing my own song, even if I didn’t know the words. All of these lessons and more were the structure on which my adult character was built.

I can’t imagine how different I would be if any of those women had been absent—never mind the most principal, my mother, as with Montgomery’s. But I can say with certainty that like Montgomery’s aunts and grandparents, all of mine would’ve rallied around to raise me. There would’ve been no question as to where or how I fit in the genealogical history. I had a tribe of powerful women to ensure I never lacked role models. 

See also: Anne of Green Gables, a 1908 review

Similar again to Montgomery, many Latin American families adhere to a patriarchal structure and mine was no different. Still going strong in his late eighties, my abuelo (grandpa) is one of the most noble, loving people on earth. I adore him. Speaking from my singular experience, I’ve noticed that most Latino men are adored by the women in their families. That adoration is freely given and freely accepted, thereby making it a unique kind of power. The paralleling qualities to Victorian mores are not lost on me. Perhaps that’s why I always read between the lines of Montgomery’s fictional landscape.

At Green Gables, she was safe to challenge the accepted sentiment that men were to be revered as ‘head of the household’; when in fact, it was women who controlled a majority of the ins and outs of daily living. For propriety’s sake and as a reverend’s wife, it would’ve been nearly impossible for Montgomery to publicly voice early feminist opinion, so she cleverly wove it into her books. This seemed readily apparent to me, even as a child. After all, I too lived in a world where we honored the traditions of our household: men were venerated— in paid respects if not entirely in authority.    

My abuelita did not shirk at my young age when she candidly explained that she had three baby girls in succession (my mother being the third), but would not stop until she had a son for my abuelo. The price for that treasured boy was my grandmother’s ability to conceive again. So cumbersome was my uncle’s birth that she had to have an emergency hysterectomy following his delivery. The moral of the story? He was worth it. I often wondered if she would’ve said the same had the fourth child been female.

In the alternative universe of Green Gables, a boy orphan was also desired, but Anne Shirley showed up at the door. I read this as Montgomery’s way of indirectly discussing the significance of women—and girls who would one day become women. Art, education, politics, religion, nature, fashion, food, family, and farm life: all of these are celebrated in her novels as being distinctly under the feminine thumb.

The sister-less Montgomery and Anne Shirley (myself, too) joined forces with Marilla Cuthbert, Rachel Lynde, Diana Barry, Minnie May, Ruby Gillis, and many more female characters in a collective literary sisterhood. It reminded me of the work of modern feminist author, Meg Wolitzer: “Sisterhood,” Wolitzer wrote in her novel The Female Persuasion, “is about being together with other women in a cause that allows all women to make the individual choices they want.”

Learn more about the author of the original Anne of Green Gables series,

L.M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

This is the very definition of the Montgomery’s Avonlea society—an echo of the present in the past. The village women of Avonlea united to empower each other in making conscious, individual decisions. From Anne’s famous smashing of the slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head to Marilla’s brewing of red currant wine despite the reverend’s disapproval, and Diana’s excessive imbibing of it; the choices create the stories that make up the chapters of the novel. True to life, though fictional, they are part of the greater feminist narrative.

In her published diaries, Montgomery described how her grandmother, aunts, and female cousins would assemble to prepare meals, sew, have tea, and decide the plans of the day, the month, and even the year. Then they’d return to their respective farms (miles apart) and implemented those collective plans as they deemed best for their nuclear families. The individual women governed all within the communal house, physically and emblematically, even while the prim culture of the period asserted that their husbands were sovereign. Here, too, Montgomery’s attitude proves far ahead of her time.

She does not recourse to man bashing in her writings. Quite the opposite. As with my own household, the women adored the men. Anne Shirley loved Gilbert Blythe and Gilbert Blythe loved the opinionated Anne Shirley. Marilla Cuthbert cherished her shy, older brother Matthew and he, his stubborn, younger sister. And I assert in my novel Marilla of Green Gables that Marilla deeply loved John Blythe.

In fact, all the characters that Montgomery created are searching earnestly for a heart’s companion—be it male or female, in ardor or bosom friendship. They long for their kindred spirits and will stand to fight if anyone they love is treated unjustly. Through her stories, we clearly see that Montgomery is a champion of strong villages comprised of people living equality and honorably. I witnessed the quest for this in my own childhood and as a modern woman, I continue to seek it out. 

This past June, former First Lady Michelle Obama, author of Becoming, spoke at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in New Orleans. She emphasized the significance of strong female friendships and fostering networks of nurturing women. She entreated the crowd of readers to “Build your village wherever you are!”

A village like Avonlea. Yes, we must. The appeal is as salient now as it was 110 years ago when the women of Green Gables were first introduced. Art may imitate life, but I also believe that life can imitate art. If we advocate for the principles we admire in our characters, they can act as a catalyst for change in our realities. I, for one, am counting on it. And I believe Lucy Maud Montgomery was too in the character of Marilla Cuthbert. 

About the author: Sarah McCoy is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. McCoy’s work has been featured in Real Simple, The Millions, Your Health Monthly, Huffington Post and other publications. She has taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. She lives with her husband, an orthopedic sports surgeon, and their dog, Gilbert, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Visit her at SarahMcCoy.com.

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The Morgan Library and Museum Presents: It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200

Fans of the hugely influential 1818 novel Frankenstein and admirers of its author, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley will be thrilled to know that The Morgan Library and Museum is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its publication. If you live in or will be visiting New York City this fall, plan to see It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200, which will be on view through January 9, 2019. A number of events and programs will be held during this time as well, to extend the depth and breadth of this visual exploration. For more on the curation and development of this exhibit, see our related post, It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200.

Learn more about the exhibit here, and note some of the programs and events, including films and gallery talks. The show is introduced as follows:

“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus — in which a chemistry student makes a living being out of corpses — has compelled our attention since it was first published in 1818. This exhibit explores its adaptability to stage and screen, its sources in Gothic art and Enlightenment Science, and the haunted life of its creator.”

How Frankenstein came to be

Frankenstein has long been acknowledged as one of the most important forerunners of modern science fiction. The genesis of the novel is well known to Mary Shelley nerds: In 1814, the teenaged Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (a disciple of her father’s) fell in love.

Later that year, the pair eloped to Europe, starting a chain of events that would alter both of their lives. Mary became part of Shelley’s literary circle. In 1816, during a visit to Lord Byron in Switzerland, the group of writers challenged themselves to a task of writing a “ghost story,” as this genre of the supernatural seemed to be in vogue.

An idea didn’t come easily to Mary, but when it did, it wholly possessed her: “I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion.” She was just eighteen at the time, and when it was published, she was barely twenty-one. It bears noting that in the story, Victor Frankenstein is the creator of the monster, who is referred to primarily as “the creature.” 

On view is the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, in which Mary Shelley finally came out of anonymity. It’s in this edition that she related the entire story of how she came to write Frankenstein.

The exhibit: It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200

The exhibit is thoughtfully arranged in two spaces: One explores the influences that may have impacted and made it possible for Mary, a relatively sheltered young woman from England, to have given birth to such a tale. The path to its publication and immediate aftermath are also traced. The second space takes a look at how the novel took root in the public imagination with staged plays and operas in the 19th century and film in the twentieth.

Some non-flash photography of some portions of the exhibit is allowed, and I’ve shared a few selected images following. But there is so much more to see! For anyone who has never visited The Morgan, you’re in for a treat. Though it’s a well-visited place, it’s also an oasis of calm in near midtown Manhattan, and a respite from the crowdedness of other museums. Make sure to allow for extra time to enjoy the other exhibits that are running concurrently to It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200.

It was a thrill to come upon this iconic portrait of Mary Shelley from 1831. She was at the height of her fame, and already a widow — Shelley had drowned in 1822. And of the several children she had borne, only one son survived.

Mary grew up in an era of scientific and technological discovery. Despite the fact that her early life is described as sheltered, she was part of an enlightened and educated family. It’s quite possible that she learned of some of the experiments and breakthroughs of her time.

Most of Mary Shelley’s original manuscript from 1816 – 1817 has survived. A few sample pages to view as part of the exhibit; it’s incredibly intimate to see the author’s own hand, and even more fascinating with the addition of Percy Shelley’s editorial suggestions.

Frankenstein was published in three volumes, as was the style in that era. Something I learned, according to The Morgan: “Sir Timothy [Percy Shelley’s father] loathed his son and daughter-in-law and forbade her to publish under the Shelley name. Nonetheless. she wrote productively for some years after as “the author of Frankenstein.” The initial print run was 500 copies; probably quite respectable at the time, but a fraction of what the book would eventually sell.

Frankenstein was first staged in London in 1823 and made its author famous. According to The Morgan: “The monster was portrayed by an expressive pantomime actor. Audiences loved it. More than a dozen other theatrical productions appeared, followed by the film version, less than a century after the novel.” 

Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus, New York: Grosset and Dunlap, [1931].

Courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum and Universal Studios Licensing LLC, © 1931

Universal Pictures Company, Inc. Photograph by Janny Chiu

Because the 1931 film starring Boris Karloff became so iconic, it’s less known that the Edison Studios produced the first movie version of Frankenstein in 1910. None of the films have truly captured the simple story and emotional depth at the heart of Mary’s book, though. And so the monster, a Halloween cliché, has taken on a life of its own apart from the original book. 

Quoting The Morgan: “James Whale’s 1931 film made Boris Karloff the face of Frankenstein for generations of viewers, and versions in other media — comic books, illustrations, prints, and posters — testify that Mary Shelley’s ‘hideous progeny’ is very much alive.”

There’s an abundance of film clips, posters, and other memorabilia to see in this section of the exhibit, in which photography wasn’t allowed. You can even see the fright wig worn by Elsa Lancaster in Bride of Frankenstein, the highly successful sequel to the original film.

The Morgan’s gift shop has plenty of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein-related literature to browse through! 

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The Night of Storms Has Passed: A Ghostly Poem by Emily Brontë

On a recent visit to The Morgan Library in New York City, I spotted a tiny autograph manuscript of the poem, “The Night of Storms has Passed,” by Emily Brontë, dated June 10, 1837. It was written in tiny, barely legible script on a card perhaps 3 by 4 inches. Written when she was about to turn nineteen years old (she was born July 30, 1818), it was unpublished in her lifetime, but has since been included in collected poems by Emily, perhaps the most inscrutable of the Brontë sisters. The text accompanying the poem read as follows:

A Graveyard Wail by the Teenage Emily Brontë

“A month before she turned nineteen, Emily Brontë wrote this poem about a ghost that opens its lips to emit a lament that mixes eerily with the sound of the wind. She copied an earlier draft, fitting fifty-eight lines onto a scrap a little smaller than an index card. In 1846, when she and her sisters self-published a book of poetry (choosing male pseudonyms to mask their identity), Brontë chose not to include this composition, it remained unpublished in her lifetime.”

The poem has been occasionally included in posthumous collections of Brontë poetry, but is still a rather buried treasure from the pen of Emily Brontë.

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The Night of Storms Has Passed by Emily Brontë

The night of storms has past

The sunshine bright and clear

Gives glory to the verdant waste

And warms the breezy air

And I would leave my bed

Its cheering smile to see

To chase the visions from my head

Whose forms have troubled me

In all the hours of gloom

My soul was wrapt away

I dreamt I stood by a marble tomb

Where royal corpses lay

It was just the time of eve

When parted ghosts might come

Above their prisoned dust to grieve

And wail their woeful doom

And truly at my side

I saw a shadowy thing

Most dim and yet its presence there

Curdled my blood with ghastly fear

And ghastlier wondering

My breath I could not draw

The air seemed ranny*

But still my eyes with maddening gaze

Were fixed upon its fearful face

And its were fixed on me …

I fell down on the stone

But could not turn away

My words died in a voiceless moan

When I began to pray

And still it bent above

Its features full in view

It seemed close by and yet more far

Then this world from the farthest star

That tracks the boundless blue

Indeed ’twas not the space

Of earth or time between

But the sea of death’s eternity

The gulf o’er which mortality

Has never never been

O bring not back again

The horror of that hour

When its lips opened

And a sound

Awoke the stillness reigning round

Faint as a dream but the Earth shrank

And heavens lights shivered

‘Neath its power

 

* In some transcriptions of this poem, the word is “uncanny,” though it’s difficult to know which, if either, word was intended by Emily Brontë.

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