Sleeping with One Eye Open: Women Writers and the Art of Survival

by Marilyn Kallet (Editor), Marilyn Kallet (Editor)

How do women writers cope with changes and juggle the demands in their already full lives to make time for their lives as artists? In this anthology, noted female novelists, journalists, essayists, poets, and nonfiction writers address the old and new challenges of "doing it all" that face women writers as the twenty-first century approaches. With eloquence, sensitivity, and more than a touch of wry humor, Sleeping with One Eye Open relates positive stories from women who lead effective lives as artists, emphasizing how sources of inspiration, discipline, resourcefulness, and determination help them succeed despite the obstacle of "no time."

The title essay, Judith Ortiz Cofer's "The Woman Who Slept with One Eye Open," defines the collection. Cofer relates the ways in which a mythological story from her Puerto Rican culture gave her confidence and courage, encouraging her creative success and emphasizing the rewards of "women's power" and personal strength. Denise Levertov's "The Vital Necessity" urges poets to make time for daydreams―essential, empowering creative food. Tillie Olsen offers a frank discussion of the pressures of work and expectations that too often sap creative energy. Tess Gallagher connects her mother's creative gardening with her own inspiration as a poet and the need for growth in her writing. Marilyn Kallet's interview with Lucille Clifton relates the personal strength that helped Clifton raise six children and publish her first book at the same time. This affirming collection offers a wealth of writing advice, given through honest accounts of perseverance and accomplishment.

248 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 1996

About the author

Marilyn Kallet served two terms as Knoxville Poet Laureate, June 27, 2018-June 2020. Even When We Sleep is her 19th book publication. Other poetry volumes include How Our Bodies Learned, The Love That Moves Me and Packing Light: New and Selected Poems, Black Widow Press. She translated Paul Eluard’s Last Love Poems and Benjamin Péret’s The Big Game. Kallet is Professor Emerita at the University of Tennessee. Since 2009, she has mentored poetry groups for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in Auvillar, France; this group will resume in Spring, 2022. Kallet’s poems have appeared in Plume, New Letters, Potomac Review and American Diversity Report, among others.

Contact: mkallet@utk.edu
Website: http://marilynkallet.com

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of these essays by women writers. Others seemed like essays I've read before, or presentations I'd heard before by women writers. Perhaps because these essays were published over 15 years ago, they aren't as insightful and edgy now as they were then.

The first section was of least interest to me. It was more abstract and full of parable, which is generally not my thing. I found myself straining to get through the writing.

Some of the essays in the other sections were much more poignant to me. Those about the specifics of the writer's life spoke to me, reminding me that it was okay to sit and think, allow creativity to happen rather than continuing to force it because you are supposed to producing something as an artist.

These were my favorite essays in the book:
Writing in No-Time by Lucy Ferris
Excerpts of a Talk by Tillie Olsen
The Prime Necessity by Denise Levertov
Writing the Impossible by Hilda Raz
The Elephant in My Living Room by Lynna Williams
The Glass Cage by Aleida Rodri'quez

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of essays by women poets and writers on their lives and writing process. I thought this was well written and inclusive of diverse voices. Worth checking out, especially if you're wondering how women writers manage it all.

[Joy Arbor]

A collection of essays on women and writing.

[fati · Rating 4 out of 5]

a spiritful compilation of 'the periphery'