VIDA's off site benefit this year will be a sushi-umbrella drinks-Karaoke cocktail party extravaganza, taking place at Tamarind restaurant, mere steps from the front door of the AWP conference hotel (greatly decreasing the risk of hypothermia for all). The off site party takes place on Friday, March 2nd, beginning at 9:00. Tamarind's address is 614 South Wabash, a half block down from the Hilton's back doors. We already have some intrepid writers lined up to wow us with their vocal stylings. And who knows, you might get up there yourself! So come let your hair down, relax and celebrate with us after a hefty day of panels and book fairing. Also, as one of AWP's literary partners, VIDA is proud to host a reading and conversation with critically-acclaimed poets Eileen Myles and Monica Youn. The reading/conversation will take place on Saturday, March 3rd at 3:00 in the International Ballroom South of the Chicago Hilton. After Eileen and Monica read, VIDA co founder Cate Marvin and I will join them in a discussion about the state of the feminist union in contemporary American poetics. We hope you will mark your calendars now and help support VIDA's efforts. And we would be grateful if you would pass this along to anyone you know who cares about VIDA's mission to support women in the literary arts.
Jane Hirshfield speaks with poet Leslie McGrath about what it means to be women-poets of their generation. The two met in 2004 at the Bennington Writing Seminars, when Hirshfield was McGrath’s teacher.
by VIDA
Our most recent count examines the contents of the Best American anthologies in poetry, fiction, and essays. When we released our 2010 Count back in February, a common response from our readers was a request for more information about the data behind our pie charts. With that in mind, we have expanded our presentation to include the tables shown below, which are based on the spreadsheets we use to generate our Count pie charts. We think these tables better represent the data, and reveal more of the complex set of questions and issues raised by it.
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by Amy King
We’ve arrived with the numbers for the Best American series, interested to see how women fare on the “Best American” front. Parity has eluded us again. Moreover, your work has appeared, at some point, in these anthologies, and now you’re playing for Team VIDA! While our goals are to point out imbalances, query and explore the implied bias, I’m wondering if you all feel a little conflicted, as though you’re biting the proverbial hand that feeds or, at least, has praised you? (more…)
