I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine: Poems for Young Feminists

by Carol Ann Duffy

This strong, culturally diverse collection of women's poetry speaks directly to today's young women and contains verse from Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Nishio Katsuko, Mary Oliver, and other well-known writers.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Adult, Young Adult, Fiction

104 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 1992

About the author

Dame Carol Ann Duffy, DBE, FRSL is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Britain's Poet Laureate in May 2009.

She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to hold this position.

Her collections include Standing Female Nude (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council Award; Selling Manhattan (1987), which won a Somerset Maugham Award; Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award; and Rapture (2005), winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize.

Her poems address issues such as oppression, gender, and violence, in an accessible language that has made them popular in schools.

Reviews

[U · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few ones i really liked amidst many which didnt interest me. I liked anno wreck sick a lot.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would describe the collection as a little outdated for kids today, although there were three poems that I enjoyed. One classic, "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou, I enjoyed "Space-Age Lover" by Jennifer Brice and last, "A Woman's Work" by Dorothy Nimmo. However, looking at it as a whole, I was pleased to see a large representation of different cultures, Asian, Native American, European, etc.

[Kyra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some gems, but the only real cohesion lasted 3 poems at most. Would have been fine if it weren’t for a really off-putting final poem. Maybe it can be seen as the audience re-entering the world of men after spending time in a feminist space…?

[Vee · Rating 3 out of 5]

a mixed bag. some of the poems were great, some are a wonder that they got published. one i really liked and i looked up the writer and turns out shes now a pseudoscience satanic panic lady. c'est la vie

[dajcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really find any poems for young feminists here, mostly ones for mothers or about kids.

[DW · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at the library because I didn't understand the title. Honestly, a lot of the poems seemed unnecessarily bitter, including the title one (I would love a valentine!) and the gruesome one about "Look Ma, no hands!"

The one I really liked was "Lullaby", by Rosemary Norman, a baby telling her mother to go to sleep. I also liked "To the Spider in the Crevice Behind the Toilet Door" by Janet Sutherland, odd but enchanting. "Vestment" by Ana Blandiana was interesting to think about (her body as a shelter from eternity).

I also noticed several of the poems were clearly British, like "The Class Game." I think it's true that the more you see of the artist the less effective the art is.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of poems felt outdated and disjointed in its organization, and I doubt that it would find much purchase with today's feminist teens. It may have, however, found more resonance with readers when it was originally published in the mid-1990s.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

An alright collection of diverse poems by and about women and their lives. Had some highlights, but the lack of a Sandra Cisneros poem was a glaring omission to me.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only aspect I resist about this collection is the illustration, not because the artist isn't wonderful, but because, for me, the formatting of the book took away from its significance.