The Drowned Girl Now Rises

This creative project, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English, contains original poetry, prefaced by a critical introduction. In this introduction, I discuss three main issues in lesbian criticism, basic themes in lesbian poetry, and how my own work reflects these themes and deals with these issues. I describe some of the ideas of contemporary lesbian writers such as Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, and Penelope Stanley, and show the relationship of the work of certain lesbian critics, such as Bonnie Zimmerman and Elly Bulkin, to this work. Images which recur in lesbian writing, such as mirrors and the witch, are explored in my own writing as well as other lesbian poets' work. This preface connects the transformations in individual women's lives and my own urge to break the many silences imposed on women. It credits lesbian writers from Sappho through Audre Lorde with providing a rich tradition upon which to build my own individual poetic vision.