Home > About

About

This site was created as a compilation hub for poetry produced by women before the twentieth century. Women writers during this broad time period functioned within a wide variety of cultural and historical contexts and restraints. In many cases, this makes their stories all the more remarkable. For example, Phillis Wheatley rose to prominence as a remarkable writer from within the confines of slavery. Additionally, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote prolifically during a time of extended convalescence and "delicate" health. In exploring these poems in a common space, the user has the opportunity to identify thematic, formal, or other similarities among them that seem to transcend time. (Currently, the site includes only American and European writers, but this list will become broader as the site is developed further.