Taisia Kitaiskaia celebrates female writers from all walks of life. She writes about them as witches, told in creative lyrical prose suiting each independent, brave, and awesome and unconventional woman writer; who are each casting spells, summoning incantations, and creating life and hope by their own hand in penning their beautiful, honest, often sorrowful and brutal work.
The writing is gorgeous and amazing. It enchanted me; reminding me of Laini Taylor (who I guess is too modern and not on the "right" side of obscurity to be included in this book, alongside J.K. Rowling, who is... too popular and mainstream to be listed?). It is poetic, scary, and I love it. The illustrations by Katy Horan are as illustrious.
As I got nearer to the end, in merely under an hour of reading this 127-page listing of feminist writing figures, I realized that a lot more women could have been included as "Literary Witches", such as Maya Angelou, to name just one. It is short, but satisfying for what it is, and it doesn't ruin the careful, magical effect of Kitaiskaia's writing.
I highly recommend reading the intro, as in the preface and foreword, as well, for they brilliantly sum up how all women who create absolutely anything but babies - be they other worlds or cooking or dancing - are witches in their own right. They use their brains, their passions, their life experiences to make themselves heard in a world that wants to silence them; that wants them acknowledged only in relation to men. As "witch" describes a woman of her own making, using her own power in her own terms, unrelated to how she is seen via her relationships to others, unlike "mother", "sister", "daughter", "virgin", and "whore".
'Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Woman Writers' - Taisia Kitaiskaia loves witches, plus feminist writers throughout the ages, from the world over. They are linked, giving off their own subtle power, and anyone who cares about either topic should check this out.
Like 'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls', 'Rejected Princesses' and 'She Persisted', 'Literary Witches' is a fiery, entertaining and quick must-read for the modern feminist literature branch (that also contains gorgeous artwork - art for art, craft for craft, with heart).
From Kitaiskaia's preface:
"Due to time, space, and seniority (long-practicing Witches must be noted before newly initiated Witches), the authors that follow make up only a single shelf of our role-model library. We hope that you will celebrate them with us, read their works, and go out to create your own canon of Literary Witches".
Follow your wyrd. Welcome the Witch.
Final Score: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment