THE WRITER ON HER WORK: New Essays in New Territory

by Janet--Ed. Sternburg ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1991

Second volume edited by Sternburg (Creative Writing/California Institute of the Arts) by and about women who write (The Writer on Her Work, 1980). Many will enjoy this collection of short essays on the craft of writing. All are autobiographical and show patience and mastery of a certain orderliness of expression. Of the 20 essayists, however, only a handful leap over the curse of fine-arts prose to show us the joy of writing or of breaking new ground. The most creative piece is by Margaret Atwood, who presents nine beginnings for her article, telling us, ""I've begun this piece nine times. I've junked each beginning."" Then she gives us all nine beginnings. Rita Dove writes with spirit and a sense of fun, telling about her students in contemporary poetry written by women, who ask, ""What about orgasm? Does the fact that a woman has to let go and open up--whereas the man bears down, takes control, holds back--does this count for anything in the general experience of emotion?"" Carolyn Forche brings great lyricism to her various huge periods of writer's block, and at last discovers that experience ""occurs within the self, and whatever it is, it is only of the self, and not of the world."" Linda Hogan gets some sparks out of her Indian background, and Luisa Valenzuela infects us with the intense fear and yet immense vitality she felt when Buenos Aires was at the height of its military dictatorship and her life was at risk. These writers all have something to say. More common throughout, however, is Maxine Kumin's drier tone: ""I learned how to write in the interstices of daily life. Reaching for an apt rhyme, a clever ending, or a richly ambiguous title can take place while performing all the daily indigenous acts that keep a household fed and watered, loved and laundered."" Very mixed bag.

Pub Date: March 1, 1991

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1991

Categories: NONFICTION