Sybil: The Glide of Her Tongue

by Gillian E. Hanscombe

Lesbians are often told that we have no culture, that we have no history, and yet lesbians are always rediscovering hidden histories, literary traditions, codes and behaviours that have been obscured, obliterated or proclaimed irrelevant. Sybil: The Glide of Her Tongue challenges that version of the past, and Gillian Hanscombe has written an exhilarating and richly textured collection of poems.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Lesbian, Feminism, Fiction

130 pages, ebook

First published August 28, 1992

About the author

Gillian Hanscombe is a poet, novelist, writing teacher, essayist, and feminist activist. She lives in England with her partner Suniti Namjoshi.

Reviews

[Fee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful sequence of poetry from Gillian Hanscombe exploring the ancient Greek Sibyls as lesbian prophets. This collection is thick with meaning, seething with the anger of being othered, and dripping with want, for love.

Yes doctor we admit we confess we are often troubled we have visitations we are possessed of devils we have dreams and portents we speak in tongues we hear voices we hallucinate we levitate we have fantasies we have memories we have longings we see visions of the deaths of men.

[Mikayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes me lose my goddamn mind. I've read it twice already, and I feel like I could read it a hundred more times and realize something new every time. Every lesbian and bisexual woman should read this collection of poetry.