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The World Began With Yes
Erica Jong has never stopped writing poetry. It was her first love and it has provided inspiration for all her other books. In a dark time, she celebrates life. Her title comes from the Brazilian genius Clarice Lispector who was deeply in love with life despite many tragedies. Life challenges us to celebrate even when our very existence is threatened. Never have we needed poetry more. Jong believes that the poet sees the world in a grain of sand and eternity in a wild flower—as Blake wrote. Her work has always stressed the importance of the lives of women, women’s creativity, and self-confidence. She sees her role as a writer as inspiring future poets to come.
- GenresPoetryFeminismNonfiction
96 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2019
10 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Erica Jong
119 books865 followersErica Jong—novelist, poet, and essayist—has consistently used her craft to help provide women with a powerful and rational voice in forging a feminist consciousness. She has published 21 books, including eight novels, six volumes of poetry, six books of non-fiction and numerous articles in magazines and newspapers such as the New York Times, the Sunday Times of London, Elle, Vogue, and the New York Times Book Review.
In her groundbreaking first novel, Fear of Flying (which has sold twenty-six million copies in more than forty languages), she introduced Isadora Wing, who also plays a central part in three subsequent novels—How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, and Any Woman's Blues. In her three historical novels—Fanny, Shylock's Daughter, and Sappho's Leap—she demonstrates her mastery of eighteenth-century British literature, the verses of Shakespeare, and ancient Greek lyric, respectively. A memoir of her life as a writer, Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life, came out in March 2006. It was a national bestseller in the US and many other countries. Erica’s latest book, Sugar in My Bowl, is an anthology of women writing about sex, has been recently released in paperback.
Erica Jong was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. She has also received Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize, also won by W.S. Merwin and Sylvia Plath. In France, she received the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence and in Italy, she received the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature. The City University of New York awarded Ms. Jong an honorary PhD at the College of Staten Island.
Her works have appeared all over the world and are as popular in Eastern Europe, Japan, China, and other Asian countries as they have been in the United States and Western Europe. She has lectured, taught and read her work all over the world.
A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University's Graduate Faculties where she received her M.A. in 18th Century English Literature, Erica Jong also attended Columbia's graduate writing program where she studied poetry with Stanley Kunitz and Mark Strand. In 2007, continuing her long-standing relationship with the university, a large collection of Erica’s archival material was acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, where it will be available to graduate and undergraduate students. Ms. Jong plans to teach master classes at Columbia and also advise the Rare Book Library on the acquisition of other women writers’ archives.
Calling herself “a defrocked academic,” Ms. Jong has partly returned to her roots as a scholar. She has taught at Ben Gurion University in Israel, Bennington College in the US, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont and many other distinguished writing programs and universities. She loves to teach and lecture, though her skill in these areas has sometimes crowded her writing projects. “As long as I am communicating the gift of literature, I’m happy,” Jong says. A poet at heart, Ms. Jong believes that words can save the world.
In her groundbreaking first novel, Fear of Flying (which has sold twenty-six million copies in more than forty languages), she introduced Isadora Wing, who also plays a central part in three subsequent novels—How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, and Any Woman's Blues. In her three historical novels—Fanny, Shylock's Daughter, and Sappho's Leap—she demonstrates her mastery of eighteenth-century British literature, the verses of Shakespeare, and ancient Greek lyric, respectively. A memoir of her life as a writer, Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life, came out in March 2006. It was a national bestseller in the US and many other countries. Erica’s latest book, Sugar in My Bowl, is an anthology of women writing about sex, has been recently released in paperback.
Erica Jong was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. She has also received Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize, also won by W.S. Merwin and Sylvia Plath. In France, she received the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence and in Italy, she received the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature. The City University of New York awarded Ms. Jong an honorary PhD at the College of Staten Island.
Her works have appeared all over the world and are as popular in Eastern Europe, Japan, China, and other Asian countries as they have been in the United States and Western Europe. She has lectured, taught and read her work all over the world.
A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University's Graduate Faculties where she received her M.A. in 18th Century English Literature, Erica Jong also attended Columbia's graduate writing program where she studied poetry with Stanley Kunitz and Mark Strand. In 2007, continuing her long-standing relationship with the university, a large collection of Erica’s archival material was acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, where it will be available to graduate and undergraduate students. Ms. Jong plans to teach master classes at Columbia and also advise the Rare Book Library on the acquisition of other women writers’ archives.
Calling herself “a defrocked academic,” Ms. Jong has partly returned to her roots as a scholar. She has taught at Ben Gurion University in Israel, Bennington College in the US, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont and many other distinguished writing programs and universities. She loves to teach and lecture, though her skill in these areas has sometimes crowded her writing projects. “As long as I am communicating the gift of literature, I’m happy,” Jong says. A poet at heart, Ms. Jong believes that words can save the world.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 12, 2019
RATING: 3.5 STARS
2019; Red Hen Press/Ingram Publisher Services
(Review Not on Blog)
I have wanted to read Erica Jong's novel Fear of Flying as it is supposed to be a classic for feminism and 1970s. I never knew Jong also wrote poetry so I was happy to see this collection being published. Jong's poetry is commentary of the time as her novels seem to be. I liked some poems better than others, but enjoyed the book as a collection.
***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***
2019; Red Hen Press/Ingram Publisher Services
(Review Not on Blog)
I have wanted to read Erica Jong's novel Fear of Flying as it is supposed to be a classic for feminism and 1970s. I never knew Jong also wrote poetry so I was happy to see this collection being published. Jong's poetry is commentary of the time as her novels seem to be. I liked some poems better than others, but enjoyed the book as a collection.
***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***
August 3, 2019
Per alcune poesie, a rovinare questa raccolta, è la loro traduzione.
Immenso il fastidio provato nel leggere SCRIVERE DI NUOVO POESIA di cui riporto gli ultimi versi (tutta la poesia è così, con queste abbreviazioni da bimbominkia che mi hanno dato un fastidio incredibile)
“nn
piangere
il suo involucro
nn era
la sua anima
la sua anima
in parole
capricciose
affettuose
furiose
parole
afrodite
adora
la lingua
&
perdona
ttt
qll ke
le danno vita
mr wystan
conosceva
anke
adrienne
&
te
amen”
In inglese invece è così:
“not
weep
her shell
was not
her soul
her soul
in words
fickle
loving
furious
words
aphrodite
worships
language
&
forgives
every 1
by whom
it lives
mr wystan
knew
adrienne
too
&
you
amen”
Non mi sembra affatto così illeggibile in inglese per quanto lo sia in italiano.
3 stelle sono la media tra 4 dell’originale e 2 della traduzione.
Immenso il fastidio provato nel leggere SCRIVERE DI NUOVO POESIA di cui riporto gli ultimi versi (tutta la poesia è così, con queste abbreviazioni da bimbominkia che mi hanno dato un fastidio incredibile)
“nn
piangere
il suo involucro
nn era
la sua anima
la sua anima
in parole
capricciose
affettuose
furiose
parole
afrodite
adora
la lingua
&
perdona
ttt
qll ke
le danno vita
mr wystan
conosceva
anke
adrienne
&
te
amen”
In inglese invece è così:
“not
weep
her shell
was not
her soul
her soul
in words
fickle
loving
furious
words
aphrodite
worships
language
&
forgives
every 1
by whom
it lives
mr wystan
knew
adrienne
too
&
you
amen”
Non mi sembra affatto così illeggibile in inglese per quanto lo sia in italiano.
3 stelle sono la media tra 4 dell’originale e 2 della traduzione.
December 29, 2020
3.5 stars roundedup.
Simple and elegant, yet the words feel held back, merely because they are printed. Jong's insights and expressions acknowledge the wisdom and depth of words and emotions, and recognize their restrictions. Beautiful.
Simple and elegant, yet the words feel held back, merely because they are printed. Jong's insights and expressions acknowledge the wisdom and depth of words and emotions, and recognize their restrictions. Beautiful.
September 28, 2021
Favourite poem: One.
February 1, 2022
Better than I expected.
Read
August 13, 2019How do you rate a book of poetry? Each page is so different. Each verse affects you differently. It’s a beautiful collection.
December 23, 2021
“La poesia è meglio dello Xanax” scrive Erica Jong e mi strappa non poche risate. Nel farlo, però, mi porta a riflettere sul fatto che avessi dimenticato che la poesia può essere anche questo: una risata un po’ sguaiata tra sé e sé su un treno.
Come ben sapete, le poesie che amo di più tendono ad essere oscure e dolorose, per quanto passionali, per cui al principio Erica Jong è stata un azzardo, un salto nel vuoto. Mi annoierà a morte? La troverò banale come (non me ne vogliate) una Rupi Kaur qualunque? La amerò come invece sento che accadrà?
Mi sono mossa nella sua direzione attratta dal tema erotico della sua prosa e mi sono imbattuta casualmente in questa sua raccolta poetica, scegliendo di acquistarla solo perché incoraggiata dagli sconti @libribompiani. L’eros lo ritrovo anche in questi versi, un eros consapevole, giocoso, maturo – l’eros di una donna sicura di sé e della propria sessualità. In definitiva, un orgasmo di lettura.
I versi maggiormente amati, però, sono stati quelli sulla poesia stessa: vivi, vibranti, ribelli. Un coloratissimo carnevale di parole, un corteo in festa a celebrare l’amata e il suo potere di “rendere visibile l’invisibile”, di aprire gli occhi ai lettori come al poeta stesso, su di sé e sul mondo.
Può una tale raccolta far spazio alla morte? Al lutto per la devastante perdita della figura materna, senza rischiare d’aggiungere una nota stonata ad una sinfonia altrimenti gioiosa? Ebbene, può.
La morte, in Jong, non è chiusura, abbandono, perdita. Non è fine. Non lo è, ed è – scrive – la poesia stessa a esser la prova di ciò. Jong si prende il suo tempo e i suoi versi per piangere l’amata madre, a lei così simile: un’artista che le ha insegnato tutto ciò che sa e dalla cui linfa vitale e creativa la poetessa e le sue sorelle hanno ampiamente attinto, succhiando con avidità. Giusto il tempo di qualche rimpianto, quello forse di non esser stata tenera a sufficienza, per poi realizzare che la madre stessa l’ha amata senza troppe smancerie, fornendole però gli strumenti per lei più importanti. Fornendole la vita e la poesia con cui muoversi attraverso di questa, assicurandosi così che la figlia possa amarla – e viverla – pienamente. E, come la madre, ricongiungersi alla terra solo dopo cento anni strappati con avidità a questa e senza alcuna paura.
RECENSIONE PUBBLICATA SULLA MIA PAGINA INSTAGRAM: LA.BOVARYSTE
Come ben sapete, le poesie che amo di più tendono ad essere oscure e dolorose, per quanto passionali, per cui al principio Erica Jong è stata un azzardo, un salto nel vuoto. Mi annoierà a morte? La troverò banale come (non me ne vogliate) una Rupi Kaur qualunque? La amerò come invece sento che accadrà?
Mi sono mossa nella sua direzione attratta dal tema erotico della sua prosa e mi sono imbattuta casualmente in questa sua raccolta poetica, scegliendo di acquistarla solo perché incoraggiata dagli sconti @libribompiani. L’eros lo ritrovo anche in questi versi, un eros consapevole, giocoso, maturo – l’eros di una donna sicura di sé e della propria sessualità. In definitiva, un orgasmo di lettura.
I versi maggiormente amati, però, sono stati quelli sulla poesia stessa: vivi, vibranti, ribelli. Un coloratissimo carnevale di parole, un corteo in festa a celebrare l’amata e il suo potere di “rendere visibile l’invisibile”, di aprire gli occhi ai lettori come al poeta stesso, su di sé e sul mondo.
Può una tale raccolta far spazio alla morte? Al lutto per la devastante perdita della figura materna, senza rischiare d’aggiungere una nota stonata ad una sinfonia altrimenti gioiosa? Ebbene, può.
La morte, in Jong, non è chiusura, abbandono, perdita. Non è fine. Non lo è, ed è – scrive – la poesia stessa a esser la prova di ciò. Jong si prende il suo tempo e i suoi versi per piangere l’amata madre, a lei così simile: un’artista che le ha insegnato tutto ciò che sa e dalla cui linfa vitale e creativa la poetessa e le sue sorelle hanno ampiamente attinto, succhiando con avidità. Giusto il tempo di qualche rimpianto, quello forse di non esser stata tenera a sufficienza, per poi realizzare che la madre stessa l’ha amata senza troppe smancerie, fornendole però gli strumenti per lei più importanti. Fornendole la vita e la poesia con cui muoversi attraverso di questa, assicurandosi così che la figlia possa amarla – e viverla – pienamente. E, come la madre, ricongiungersi alla terra solo dopo cento anni strappati con avidità a questa e senza alcuna paura.
RECENSIONE PUBBLICATA SULLA MIA PAGINA INSTAGRAM: LA.BOVARYSTE
September 13, 2025
i can feel the curiosity behind this collection, the questions that inspired many of these poems. all her influences - lispector, montaigne, dickinson, the classics, modern astronomy and technology, mindfulness and buddhism - combine into what, as a whole, feels like a book of play.
some of these were truly excellent and impacted me in the way i have come to expect from erica. the sequence on her mother’s death was especially poignant. others (more toward the middle of the collection) just didn’t hit the same, though reading them i could practically hear the cogs turning in her brain. i really appreciate that experience, even if much of the poetry itself wasn’t necessarily for me.
i was going to rate this 3 stars until the last quarter was just banger after banger - and i loved the way it began and ended with breath.
some of these were truly excellent and impacted me in the way i have come to expect from erica. the sequence on her mother’s death was especially poignant. others (more toward the middle of the collection) just didn’t hit the same, though reading them i could practically hear the cogs turning in her brain. i really appreciate that experience, even if much of the poetry itself wasn’t necessarily for me.
i was going to rate this 3 stars until the last quarter was just banger after banger - and i loved the way it began and ended with breath.
June 6, 2019
Beautiful, in every way. Her words flow, and have depth. Take them in, page by page, line by line, with an open heart.
Favorite poems: One, Poetry is better than Xanax, The Mental Traveler & What is love?
Favorite lines:
"Death is not as final as poetry proves."
"All things flow and gather, gather and crash again -- that is our puzzle, our conundrum as we liquefy our passions and become one."
Favorite poems: One, Poetry is better than Xanax, The Mental Traveler & What is love?
Favorite lines:
"Death is not as final as poetry proves."
"All things flow and gather, gather and crash again -- that is our puzzle, our conundrum as we liquefy our passions and become one."
January 6, 2026
This poem:
"Her Death
It knocked the foundations
out from under me-
my mother's death.
No surprise but the pain was.
Orphaned like a Dickens hero
& the sky was black as boots.
I should have been ready
but who is ever ready?
I spin in space like a lost
meteorite, looking for the planet
that gave me birth, my Earth."
"Her Death
It knocked the foundations
out from under me-
my mother's death.
No surprise but the pain was.
Orphaned like a Dickens hero
& the sky was black as boots.
I should have been ready
but who is ever ready?
I spin in space like a lost
meteorite, looking for the planet
that gave me birth, my Earth."
July 1, 2022
I absolutely loved this book. I felt a ride of emotions: overjoyed, moved, shocked, saddened. I felt heard. I felt pained. These beautiful and gripping poems have become so close to my heart. This is definitely going on my favourites list. I can’t wait to check out more of Erica Jong’s work!
June 5, 2019
Awesome book, highly recommend! She signed it for our whole class as well, a lovely gesture. Love the gesture.
June 11, 2019
I loved this. It’s a small volume of poetry filled with heart and power.
Read
May 11, 2020beautiful, life affirming words!!!
LOVE!
LOVE!
November 22, 2021
It didn’t really make much sense. At all.
April 10, 2022
And this is a no from me. I’m trying to read more poetry but noooooot this kind
October 5, 2022
some poems were good, but others didn't quite get where it was trying to go
April 6, 2024
3.5 stars
July 3, 2024
Kind of trite.
August 5, 2024
I saw this writer had published quite a few things, but this was my introduction to her work, and I wasn't really in love with it.
July 15, 2025
I've read my fair share of poetry books, and this the only one I've read where ALL of the poems were top notch.
September 17, 2023
.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* .・゜゜・
"Connoisseur of Longing
You
memorizing passion's moments,
an ornithologist studying birdsong.
Passion's professor,
you study desire,
trying to relieve its first moments.
Birds, birds, birds
their song fills you with longing.
If only we might capture
birdsong in a blanket
as we might capture a bird.
My friend, why be
a connoisseur of longing?
Is that what a poet does?"
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews