Not For Mothers Only

by Rebecca Wolff (Editor), Catherine Wagner, Mina Loy

"The poets in this anthology have been ravished, whacked, illuminated, blown away by the experience of motherhood. The thousand experiences. The thousand interruptions. The fact that it is never what we expected, and that it is overwhelmingly intense."—Alicia Ostriker, from the foreword

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies

546 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Rebecca Wolff is the editor of Fence and the author of Manderley, Figment and Continuum. She lives in Athens, New York, with her family and is a Fellow of the New York State Writers Institute.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been meaning to buy this book for a while, and I'm so glad I finally did. Every poem is inspiring on a number of levels. And it's organized chronologically based on when the poets' kids were born, which I think is clever and makes for a great straight-through read.

[Michelle Taransky · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's okay to write about babies.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great, nuanced collection that encompasses a wide variety of forms and content, including a poem about choosing not to have children (and how controversial that can be).

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pretty May
(rain)
& I------
talking
in sort of rounded gobs


American English

moist tulip air
lumps of throat

Pearly light
I catch it & bundle it in"
-Alice Notley, "Splashes of Yellow"

I'll return to these various poems. Yes and happily, I will. A few of the bios--full of portent--I may not read again.

[Mary Louise]

Rebecca Wolff edited this anthology.

[Martha Silano · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best anthologies on child-rearing out there. An essential addition to the canon of parenthood.