Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts

by Laura Madeline Wiseman (Editor)

Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts anthology collects the work of 170 contemporary women poets and artists. Exploring the gendered narratives that clothe and fashion the body, gender subversion, the traditional male gaze, feminist theories, and more, the artists and poets collected in Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts resist given narratives about the breast and bra by boldly presenting alternatives in written and visual art. The poetry and art of Bared consider commodification, training bras, mammograms, bra factories, biopsies, bra-fit, pencil tests, cancer, mastectomies, sexuality, implants, nursing, representation, and so much more, highlighting the importance of women’s bodies now and in the coming years.

“In this anthology, Kara Maria’s raw yet beautiful painted depictions of women holding up their bruised breasts, work alongside Kimberly L. Becker’s poem, heartfully and passionately honoring all that comes with being bound to these patches of round skin on our chests Nicola Santalucia’s playful narrative illustrations bring something new with Andrea Witzke Slot’s warm poetic contribution of women who find kinship in the park. Janelle Cordello’s sweet and sinuous line drawing and watercolor figures of women at ease in their underclothes as though in a locker room, cause more pause when taken in with Tara Betts’ artful poem about women models and Ann Bracken’s poem of a secretive tryst. Florine Desmonthe’s dark charcoal figures in abstracted muted backgrounds after reading Susanna Childress’ self-portrait poem brings a raw authenticity.” – Sally Deskins
Full List of Contributors

Kelli Russell Agodon | Kathleen Aguero | Nin Andrews | Amy Kollar Anderson | Catherine Arra | Lana Ayers | Melissa Balmain | Julie Brooks Barbour | Wendy Barker | Hadara Bar-Nadav | Ellen Bass | Kimberly L. Becker | Francesca Bell | Jacqueline Berger | Erin M. Bertram | Tara Betts | Katie Bickham | Sally Bliumis-Dunn | Ann Bracken | April Michelle Bratten | Becky Breed | Shirley J. Brewer | Kierstin Bridger | Julia Cahill | Cathleen Calbert | Susana H. Case | Grace Cavalieri | Amy Cerra | Sarah A. Chavez | Susanna Childress | Chuka Susan Chesney | Suzanne Cleary | Kaye Cleave | Maria Raquel Cochez | Marilyn Coffey | Maryann Corbett | Janelle Cordero | Kathy Crabbe | Catherine Daly | Julie Danho | Kate Daniels | Pam Davenport | Laura E. Davis | MaryLisa DeDomenicis | Lorene Delany-Ullman | florine desmothene | Danielle DeTiberus | Alexa Doran | Caitlin Doyle | Jehanne Dubrow| Denise Duhamel | Teresa Dunn | Jaclyn Dwyer | Meg Eden | Julie R. Enszer | Kate Falvey | Alexis Rhone Fancher | Laurel Feigenbaum |Noelle Fiori | Julie Fordham | Rebecca Foust | Jackie Fox | Sherese Francis | Jennifer Franklin |Alice Friman | Michelle Furlong | Kara Gall | Sandee Gertz | Bonnie Gloris | Camille Guthrie | Hedy Habra | Lois Marie Harrod | Janet Ruth Heller | Jaimee Hills | Trish Hopkinson | Katy Horan | Stacy Howe | Karla Huston| Barbara Helfgott Hyett | Gray Jacobik | Susan Jamison |Parneshia Jones | Alison Joseph | Julie Kane | Evelyn Katz | Jill Klein | Alyse Knorr | Judy Kronenfeld | Alexis Kyriak | Joy Ladin | K.A. Letts | Lisa Lewis | Marisa Lewon | Lyn Lifshin | Susan Lizotte | Ellaraine Lockie | Diane Lockward | Jessica Helen Lopez | Alison Luterman | Katharyn Howd Machan | M. Mack | Mandem | Katrina Majkut | Kara Maria | Maya Marshall | Jill McDonough | Susan McLean | Mary Meriam | Rosemary Meza-Desplas | Leslie Adrienne Miller | Rachel Mindrup | Amanda Moore | Catherine Moore | Joely Johnson Mork | Alice Morris | Kel Mur | Lesléa Newman | Alicia Ostriker | Jane Otto | Cristina Natsuko Paulos | Jennifer Perrine | Maria Peter-Toltz | Amy Plettner | Cati Porter | Courtney Kenny Porto | Andrea Potos | Lee Price | Suzanne Proulx | Hilda Raz | Susan Rich | Lauren Rinaldi | Barbara Rockman | Libby Rowe | Nicole Santalucia | Cathy Sarkowsky | Jane Satterfield | Lynn Schmeidler | Barbara Schmitz | Maureen Seaton | Laura Shovan | Martha Silano | Karen Skolfield | Andrea Witzke Slot | Amy Small-McKinney | Mary Beth Smith | Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam | Virginia Chase Sutton | Margo Taft Stever | Kim Rae Taylor | Sue Ellen Thompson | Carine Topal | KC Trommer | Meg Tuite | Ann Tweedy | Rhonda Thomas Urdang | Kathrine Varnes | Marlana Adele Vassar | Natalie Voelker | Stacey Waite | Catherine Wald | Beth Walker | Tracey Watts | Tana Jean Welch | July Westhale | Sarah Ann Winn | Rosemary Winslow | Anne Harding Woodworth | Janet Deker Yanez | Belgin Yucelen

Genres: Poetry

374 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Laura Madeline Wiseman's latest books are Velocipede, published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press and Through A Certain Forest published by BlazeVOX [books]. Her collaboratively written chapbook with Andrea Blythe, Every Girl Becomes the Wolf is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.

She is also the author of the full length collections of poetry An Apparently Impossible Adventure (BlazeVOX [books], 2016), Drink (BlazeVOX [books], 2015), Wake (Aldrich Press, 2015), Some Fatal Effects of Curiosity and Disobedience (Lavender Ink, 2014), American Galactic (Martian Lit, 2014), Queen of the Platform (Anaphora Literary Press, 2013) and Sprung (San Francisco Bay Press, 2012).

Her collaborative books are People Like Cats with Chuka Susan Chesney, (Red Dashboard, LCC in 2016), Leaves of Absence with artist Sally Deskins (Red Dashboard, LCC, 2016), The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters with artist Lauren Rinaldi (Les Femmes Folles, 2015, and Intimates and Fools (Les Femmes Folles, 2014) with artist Sally Deskins.

Her flash novel is The Bottle Opener (Red Dashboard, LCC 2014).

Her letterpress books are Unclose The Door (Gold Quoin Press, 2012) and Farm Hands (Gold Quoin Press, 2012).

Her chapbooks are Threnody (Porkbelly Press, 2014), Spindrift (Dancing Girl Press, 2014), Stranger Still (Finishing Line Press, 2013, First Wife (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013), Men and Their Whims (Writing Knights Press, 2013), She Who Loves Her Father (Dancing Girl Press, 2012), Branding Girls (Finishing Line Press, 2011), Ghost Girl (Pudding House, 2010), and My Imaginary (Dancing Girl Press, 2010). Her early DIY chapbooks include Plastic Matches (2002).

She is also the editor of Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts (Les Femmes Folles Books, 2017) and Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013).

Her work has appeared in Margie, Prairie Schooner, Arts & Letters, Feminist Studies, Mid-American Review, Blackbird, 13th Moon, Cream City Review, Poet Lore and elsewhere. Awards and grants include the Academy of American Poets Award and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation grant. Currently, she teaches writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.