The Woman With Two Vaginas

by Denise Duhamel

Poetry.Wildly feminist adaptations of Eskimo myths.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Denise Duhamel's most recent books are Ka-Ching! (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009), Two and Two (Pittsburgh, 2005), Mille et un Sentiments (Firewheel, 2005); Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems (Pittsburgh, 2001); The Star-Spangled Banner (Southern Illinois University Press, 1999); and Kinky (Orchises Press, 1997). A bilingual edition of her poems, Afortunada de mí (Lucky Me), translated into Spanish by Dagmar Buchholz and David Gonzalez, came out in 2008 with Bartleby Editores (Madrid.) A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, she is an associate professor at Florida International University in Miami.

Reviews

[Ron Mohring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out-of-print, but a text archive is housed online at CAPA:
http://capa.conncoll.edu/duhamel.ww2v...

[Shay E · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have a strong suspicion that the author wrote this without much knowledge of or consultation with the people whose stories she is retelling, which is a pretty shitty move.

[Julene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. What a book of fairy tales, but not fairy tales for the very young. These are brazen and raw with their examination of Alaskan myths from a sexual perspective. Sometimes hard to read, there is pain and violence between the sexes in real life and in the myths and this author has done us a service to write them down. Thank you Denise!

I'm glad to have found one of her early books in a used book store, I've been meaning to read her work since I've read many of her poems online, plus an interview with her. I'm excited to read more. She is daring and a good writer.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems inspired by Inuit legends and myths. Very earthy, the poems are often funny, dealing as they do (at least in the first section) with sex and bodily functions. They combine real truths of life with fantastic, surprising elements. Each poem reads like a folk-tale. Enjoyable read.