Veils, Halos and Shackles: International Poetry on the Oppression and Empowerment of Women

by Charles Fishman (Editor), Smita Sahay (Editor)

Overview

Poetry. Women's Studies.

POEMS OF PAIN. POEMS OF PROTEST. POEMS OF HEALING.

All over the world, girls and women are victims of violence, oppression, and discrimination. No country, no community, no religious or ethnic group is immune. Too often, women's voices are stifled, ignored, or trivialized--and as a result, other victims feel alone and unsupported.

VEILS, HALOS & SHACKLES, the first-ever anthology of international poetry specifically addressing the oppression and empowerment of women, includes more than 250 extraordinary poems from every continent, contributed by some of the world's most accomplished living poets. Many are themselves survivors of rape and other gender-based crimes; others are grandmothers, mothers, daughters, friends, and teachers of victims and survivors. Still others write out of empathy and concern, having been moved deeply by the fate of those who suffer and die just because they are female. They offer heartfelt testimony of what they have experienced and witnessed.

VEILS, HALOS & SHACKLES is an important and timely contribution to the cause of women's empowerment and freedom; it speaks to a global audience and gives a voice to the millions whose outcries have been silenced.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780991058457
Publisher:	Kasva Press
Publication date:	04/01/2016
Pages:	584
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Charles Fishman's books include The Death Mazurka, which was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, and In the Language of Women (2011), recipient of the Paterson Award for Literary Excellence. The revised, second edition of his anthology, Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust, was published in 2007 by Time Being Books, which released his Selected Poems, In the Path of Lightning, in 2012. Fishman is poetry editor of Prism: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Holocaust Educators and, with Smita Sahay of Mumbai, India, has co-edited VEILS, HALOS AND SHACKLES: INTERNATIONAL POETRY ON THE OPPRESSION AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN.


Smita Sahay is an Indian English-language writer. She has read her poetry at 100 Thousand Poets for Change in Pune and Mumbai, the Prakriti Poetry Festival in Chennai, and Pen at Prithvi in Mumbai. She co-conceptualized and served as Associate Editor of VEILS, HALOS & SHACKLES: INTERNATIONAL POETRY ON THE OPPRESSION AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN. Sahay grew up in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand in India, and customs, traditions and culture from her childhood are recurring themes in her work, as are social prejudices and injustices. Her parents, with two daughters, were often questioned by pitying friends, relatives and neighbors about not having a third child and not "trying for" a son. Those early experiences made clear to her how necessary it is to stand up to gender inequality, and that principle remains an integral part of her consciousness. Sahay received her MBA from the Indian School of Business in 2015 and is currently setting up an entrepreneurial venture to improve mental-healthcare delivery through the use of technology. She lives, writes, and works in Mumbai, India.

Editorial Reviews

"...this anthology needs to be in the curriculum of colleges and universities, law enforcement academies, and women's shelters around the world. Wherever injustice, crimes of barbaric violence, or bestial cruelty occur, this anthology should be mandatory reading. I couldn't simply read it for review. The memories and experiences inside were shared so beautifully, ferociously, intensely that I had to savor every word...This anthology is not for the faint of heart. And yet, it is a book of hope and courage that has the power to bring out the best in all of us. These are powerful words by some of the best living writers and poets today. Veils, Halos & Shackles is a significant book of literary, cultural, and social excellence and highly recommended to mature readers everywhere."--Laurel Johnson, Midwest Book Review Bookwatch


"Most of the poems deal with responses to terrible violence. But there are also poems of strength and resilience. In some poems, women swallow the power of goddesses, demand to be seen, and are preserved. Some poems explore subtle, sinister violence that occurs stealthily inside homes and other places that are supposed to be safe...each line, each stanza, each poem gets trapped under your skin. The words on the page lodge inside your mind, raising relentless questions of why and how such violence can even occur. But this is an anthology that should be read and reread to spread the word that such violence does not and should not have a place in this world."—Fehmida Zakeer, Bitch Media


"The poems, with tones ranging from painful to cynical--to occasional dry wit--do not preach, reduce or generalise. They exhibit an eclectic range of experience and thought, each specified by religion, region, time and culturally precise natures of patriarchy, making a subliminal argument that while gender injustice is a global and historical phenomenon, its experience is local and specific...The poems are graphic and painful: they grab by the throat, they resurrect demons, but they also redeem with the power of the word."--Maithreyi Karnoor, The Hindu

From the Publisher