There are Girls like Lions

Poems about Being a Woman (Poetry Anthology, Feminist Literature, Illustrated Book of Poems)

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Pub Date 05 Mar 2019 | Archive Date 26 Feb 2019

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Description

An anthology of poems about the experience of being a woman

With 30 rousing and empowering poems: For mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, and friends, There Are Girls Like Lions is a celebration of womanhood in all its dimensions, including love, beauty, friendship, motherhood, work, aging, and much more. This powerful collection of poems will resonate with any modern woman.

• Foreword by award-winning American poet Cole Swensen who has authored more than ten books of poetry
• Striking illustrations in metallic ink throughout
• With poems from a variety of women poets including Margaret Atwood, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Kimiko Hahn, Elisabeth Hewer, Rachel Zucker, Emily Dickinson, Naomi Shihab Nye, and more

Fans of the novel An American Marriage, The Future is Feminist, and Women of Resistance will be inspired and empowered by There are Girls Like Lions.

Discover 30 poems that honor and celebrate the experience of being a woman.

• Packaged in an attractive case with foil stamping ready to give or receive
• Great Mother's Day, birthday, or anytime gift for the strong women in your life
An anthology of poems about the experience of being a woman

With 30 rousing and empowering poems: For mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, and friends, There Are Girls Like Lions is a...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781452173450
PRICE $16.95 (USD)

Average rating from 71 members


Featured Reviews

I haven't even finished this yet but I am already writing the review-- I feel so empowered just reading it, which sounds so dumb retrospectively but each story is so inspiring in its own way. The writing is as beautiful as the cover. I love it.

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This is a powerful collection on women.
If all else fails and I'm at a loss in giving the appropriate recommendation, dear reader, please read 'Demeter's Cuttings' by Kimiko Hahn in this collection. I promise you, you will be moved.
Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

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"There Are Girls Like Lions", is a beautiful anthology of poetry, not focused on giving all women writers a collective voice, but rather demonstrating the unique perspectives and talents of each poet. Schnoor provides a sampler with a perfect balance of poetry spanning from the twentieth to the twenty-first century and all three waves of feminism. The pieces are powerful, vulnerable and personal. The reader is afforded a glimpse in to each writer's relationship with the world. A world altered by cultural expectations, loss, relationships, and patriarchal oppression. A wonderful collection for use in academic settings, for personal enjoyment and a wonderful catalyst for discussion.

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As a note, a copy of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

While I didn't totally hate There Are Girls like Lions, and found a good few poems to be thought-provoking, new-to-me and powerful, the collection as a whole just didn't work for me. Not completely. I found that the foreward was wonderful, that there were some standouts in prose, but the better portion of this collection felt choppy and incoherent. And I'm so, so, so disappointed in myself for just not connecting with it full-time.

But, it happens. My experience with There Are Girls like Lions wasn't fully negative but it wasn't exactly positive, either. In the better moments, there were various poems that made me nod my head in something like encouragement or agreement. In its lesser moments, I spaced out and had that nagging thought: am I going to finish it? In its in-between moments, I had just enough curiosity to finish the collection and consider what I was feeling.

In half, I did find the collection to have that emotional charge required in poetry. Some of these works, or writers, were familiar to me and there was already that groundwork of kinship between the words and me. I liked the illustrations that I could see (my galley was a bit... off, so I'm not certain that I was able to view everything) and thought they amplified the experience.

Throughout, I couldn't shake the feeling that not everything fit together. Did it excel in vocalizing the experience of being a woman? Yes. I just felt like, in order to be all it could be, there should have been more to it--and a lot more coherency.

Then again, is life ever coherent?

There Are Girls like Lions wasn't my favourite collection but it certainly was an experience in its own right, and I don't regret picking it up.

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This is a lovely collection of poems that can appeal to women of any age, especially in our current society. It details the hardships and happiness, as well as so much more. It is a great collection that anyone would find joy in..

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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A collection with an empowering title and a beautiful cover. The poems were okay, but none of them stood out to me. I do, however, appreciate the intention and overall message.

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I really enjoy poetry collections.  I like them when it’s a collection from one author, but more so, I like curated collections from a variety of authors that focus on one topic.  Its refreshing to read different voices and tones that discuss a similar topic.  In There Are Girls like Lions, the subject at hand is women.  The poems in this collection cover a wide range to time and race, as well as different aspects of womanhood of what that entails in life.  I was offered an eARC of this book to review through NetGalley.  Thank you so much to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for allowing me to read this text before it is published on March 5th, 2019. 

I would 100% recommend this for anyone to read, especially women.  The foreword to this book, written by a contributing poet, is a very intriguing and powerful short piece.  It discusses, loosely, some of the feminism movements in the United States and how they have had an affect on the lives of women as they were happening, as well as today.  Sometimes, it is just nice to read about the power of women to reacquaint oneself with the power we hold.  Many of the poems collected in this book do just the same.  The foreword also makes a positive point to note the power of women’s words and poetry and how through the years the labels associated with literature and poetry written by women has changed so that in includes it as just ‘writing’ versus ‘women’s writing.’  In a world where semantics and language are important, this change and distinctive of social change.  Change that is needed and vital.

The artwork in this book is adorable.  The base colors are pretty simple, but the artwork is full of whimsy and just fun.  All the art features women.  The cover art features three women of differing skin colors, representing unity.  In a lot of the artwork, there are aspects tying it back to the poem it is associated with. 

More importantly, the subjects of the poems are the most significant feature of this collection.  I adore the use of the variety of authors.  There are several that I have heard of and read and others that I have not.  Relationships between women is something that has often been overlooked or portrayed negatively in the past.  You can see this reflected in how women call and talk to other women.  Issues of jealous and gossip help contribute to those negative ideas.  I enjoy that in this collection of poetry, relationships between women are brought up front and discussed.  Those relationships include those between friends, those between strangers, those between the living and the female ancestors, and those between mothers and daughters.  Reading poetry that highlights these relationships helped me, as a reader, to reconsider those relationships I have with women and what they mean to me in my life. 

Another aspect of womanhood that has been overlooked and downplayed over the years is the value of women’s work and everyday women’s life.  Women’s work, in a general sense is what helps keep a lot of households going.  I understand that this isn’t the case with all households and that the work that men may do is just a valuable.  Rather, the chief thing is that work done should not be looked over as it has been.  I appreciate that some of the poems in this collection call importance to this work and the prominence it takes.  I also loved that some poems incorporate ancestors and how women are connected to those women, just by being who they are. 

So, as I said earlier, I would highly recommend this book to so many people, especially women.  It’s really nice to read ideas of women and womanhood from today’s poets and those from years ago.  I gave it four stars on Goodreads because I wish it was longer.  Also, I wish there was some sort of introduction to each author.  There is a credit section in the back, but it only lists where each poem came from.  There are several poets who I would have loved to learn a little more about before reading their poetry.  Otherwise, it was good and I hope everyone reads it when it comes out!

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I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Here are girls who'll play tug o' war
with your heart or your wishbone
Or your throat, oh."

The foreword is an insightful piece on feminism through the years, and I'd recommend reading it. The artwork in this books was so good that it made adobe digital editions crash multiple times.

I love the sheer variety of authors and subjects within this collection. There wasn't really any connection between the poems other than they were about the experience of women. I would recommend picking this book up.

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I don't read a lot of poetry but when I saw There are Girls Like Lions on Netgalley, I loved the cover and the title and I
decided to step outside my wheelhouse and try it. The collection covers many different styles and eras from the ancient Greek poet, Sappho to present day. For the most part, I enjoyed this collection although perhaps because I do not normally read poetry, I admit that some of the poems seemed incomprehensible to me and, to be honest, I liked the illustrations and the forward best of all. However, as a woman who grew up in the era of second-wave feminism and has watched with sorrow, the loss of so much that was fought so hard for and, as I follow the struggles both old and new, of third-wave, I can only applaud any collection whose intent is to empower women.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

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The title of this book comes from one of the poems inside, called Here are Girls Like Lions by Elisabeth Hewer. A quote:

Here are girls like lions,

here are girls like howling wolves...

Here are girls who can't breathe air, only fire.

Here are girls who carry kindness...

You've got to help them rise.

This anthology of poems about and for women includes authors that I both know and those who are new to me. A partial list includes Emily Dickinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sandra Cisneros, Sappho and Mary Oliver whom I know and Mary Jo Bang, Naomi Shihab Nye and Jean Valentine whom I did not. If you are looking for an interesting, thoughtful anthology with an excellent introduction by Cole Swenson, I recomment this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-galley which I was given in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you NetGalley for the free copy!

I must admit I only picked this poem collection because there is one by Margaret Atwood. I liked her poem, but I was positively surprised by a handful of other poems. I think my favourite was "Demeter's Cuttings" by Kimiko Hahn.

These poems speak about our experiences as women, what we live on a day to day basis and how we deal with it. We are far from living in a equal world, but I am confident we will get there eventually. Little by little we are adding battles to our victories and there will be a day when we will lose count, but we must never forget them.

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Poetry is something to be savoured and enjoyed, spoken aloud where possible. This compilation will stay with me for a long time and, I expect, I will return to it time and again to capture new meaning.

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There Are Girls Like Lions, what an amazing title. That right there initially pulled me in.

Some of the poems have stood out to me in an outstanding way. A few lost me completely, these I feel like you need to devote time to study them and figure out what they mean to you personally. While a couple struck the wrong cord, maybe that is what the purpose was.. but I did not like them. In the end, this book is very strong. I recommend it!



Thanks NetGalley and Chronicle Books

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This is a really round book, carefully crafted. I was delighted reading the introduction - seeing in the real world all the feminist theories I am currently studying at uni - and I really enjoyed reading the poems. I was particularly excited to be reading poems by certain writers like Margaret Atwood, Gertrude Stein and Sandra Cisneros because I already had heard of them, although later it surprised me and I only enjoyed reading the one by Cisneros - I also discovered other amazing poets along the way.
The only thing I felt was missing in the book is a brief description/explanation or even a really simple analysis of each poem, either before or after each one. I hope this review can reach either the publisher or the author and maybe they can consider including this in further editions.

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This beautiful collection is designed for those who can appreciate the art poetry in all of its manifestations.

These poems are deep and complex. I was delighted to see some of my old favorites such as Mary Oliver, Margaret Atwood, and Emily Dickinson alongside other female poets who were new to me.

The collection begins with a fascinating essay that traces the the roots of feminism. Although I already knew a great deal of the information, the essay in and of itself was poetic and perfectly set the stage what the reader was about to encounter.

Although this book is relatively short, it has incredible depth. It took me several days to work through these poems because these pieces demand to be taken seriously. I found myself retreading all the pieces and working to tease out their meaning. It was an excellent mental exercise and extremely edifying.

The collection's opening volley is the eponymous "Here Are Girls Like Lions." This booming number made me sit up and take notice.

This piece is then followed by a fleet footed translation of the famous Sappho. Carson does an excellent job bringing this ancient poet leaping forth into modern English.

The collection moves from references to ancient mythology, with a delightful inversion of the Siren's song by Atwood, and at last brings the reader into the present. It is clear that the pieces have been carefully arranged. Each piece picks up on the nuances of the surrounding works. The juxtaposition of the various poems helps the reader to draw out the themes that connect the diverse poems.

My favorite aspect of this collection was the excellent diverse representation of female poets. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing my sisters' voices from across the world. I was also introduced to many poets who were entirely new to me.

The book is ornamented with bright and colorful illustrations that add a depth as well as a sense of untamed wildness to the poems. These illustrations make the perfect compliment to the text.

I highly recommend this book to all lovers of poetry, especially if you are interested in the voices of women or other traditionally marginalized groups.


Note: I received a free digital advanced reader copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

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Empowering, inspiring and enjoyable! I love poetry and I loved these! I wish there were more. I needed more.

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