Ancestor Maps & Muses
From an Artistic Ancestor, May Sarton “I wrote poems to and about them [the muses]; I put them into novels … I lived with their faces … I studied them as if they were maps of the world — and in a way, I suppose they were.” — May Sarton, American poet, novelist and memoirist “Portrait of May Sarton” by Polly Thayer, 1936, courtesy of Fogg Art Museum Whether they serve as muses or maps of the world,...
“Granddaughter of Stonewall” by Ona Marae
“Granddaughter of Stonewall” by Ona Marae Why do I write? I write because of them. I write because of solemn women, in sensible shoes and fedoras, wearing three articles of women’s clothing. I write because of laughing women, who lean across campfire pits, braving growing flames to hand hot dogs to lovers and friends. I write for herstory documented for lives recorded for stories told and retold. I write because now I am...
A Life Force Quickened
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.” ― Martha Graham, American modern dancer and choreographer “If you dance, dance. If you sing, sing. If you build, build. If you cook, cook. If you carve, carve. If you weave, weave. If you write, write. If you prophesy, prophesy.”...
Makers and Carriers of Fresh Meaning
“Bless the poets, the workers for justice, the dancers of ceremony, the singers of heartache, the visionaries, all makers and carriers of fresh meaning— We will all make it through, despite politics and wars, despite failures and misunderstandings. There is only love.” ― Joy Harjo, U.S. Poet Laureate, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems Our new U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, poet Barbara Buckman Strasko, singer of heartache...
What Do My Ancestors Tell Me?
My generation is now the door to memory. That is why I am remembering. – Joy Harjo, U.S. Poet Laureate It is clear that we share common ground as women, but our many ancestors present a mosaic of exile, diaspora, conquest, survival and triumph. We are women remembering – with pride, grief, curiosity, vulnerability, and, most of all, a desire to reconcile our ancestral stories with our own. What do your ancestors tell you? Find the...