Two requests.

[sinsense]

1) Could anyone upload Rihanna's "Umbrella"? I ask this not for myself but for Pro, who is demented and sad, ella ella, ay ay. [edit: Thanks, offonmars!]

2) I am most likely going to be teaching a section of "International Women's Writing" next semester. (Extra money, whoo! My CV is unhireable full of teaching, whoo! Extra students OH GOD!) I'm pulling

Comments

[offonmars]

I snagged this working link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/blvyvg :)

[sinsense]

You are awesome! Pro gave a little noise of joy, it was excellent.

[belle_noiseuse]

I love me the hell out of some Wisława Szymborska, if you are interested in Polish poets?

[sinsense]

a) Dude, poem about a cat, it's like you know me or something.
b) Actually, that's perfect. I'm mostly interested in doing novels by (to completely abuse Spivak's term) subaltern authors, but I figure that poetry can add a different spin on things.

[belle_noiseuse]

She is pretty different from your list! Mainly I just wanted an excuse to send you off to read the POEM ABOUT A CAT, because it is SERIOUSLY ABOUT A CAT.

[sinsense]

My mom will seriously come in here and recite the "Singing Cat" poem, watch out.

[7iris]

I took a course on third world women writers in undergrad, and I just checked the website to see who the professor is assigning nowadays: Nawal El Saadawi, Alifa Rifaat, Mariama Ba, Bessie Head, Ana Lydia Vega and Jamaica Kincaid. I definitely remember Rifaat and Kincaid from when I took it.

I also really like Nalo Hopkinson; she won the 2002 World Fantasy Award for Best Story Collection for "Skin Folk;" you might be able to use something from that.

[7iris]

Nawal El Saadawi! I took an entire course based around her work. She is amazing and so are her books. I learned so much from her.

[anonymous]

Oh, man. So I finished reading Skin of the Canvas a few days ago, and came back to look at it again to see if I could formulate a review when I got distracted by this post (the story was seriously stunning, will get my thoughts together at some point and email them to you, I don't have an LJ), and, ok.

So I did undergrad English, am from Sweden, about to start a Master's Program in translation and am prone to reading precisely this sort of literature due to an interest in bilingualism/human rights/translation/etc. Just off the top of my head, I'd say Alicia Partnoy's The Little School could work (it's autobiographical, sort of short stories, sort of cohesive narrative about her personal experiences in the Dirty War in Argentina); there's also Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga (Nervous Conditions is her well-known novel, though they're all fantastic). I'll come back with a couple of poets tomorrow--I really hope you don't mind the random lurker piping up.

--Vendi
homeless.sky at gmail.com

[belladonnalin]

I'm a big fan of Ieyoka's work - she's based out of Boston and talks a lot about being a black woman in America.

I also adore Suheir Hammad, particularly her books Born Palistinian, Born Black and Zaatar Diva. Hammad was born in Jordan to Palenstian refugee parents and moved to the US in 1978. I really love What I Will.

Oh! And another American woman, but. Audre Lorde, "Who Said It Was Simple" is one of the best poems I've ever read.