The Moment of Change: An Anthology of Feminist Speculative Poetry

Aqueduct has just taken delivery of another book in its spring list: The Moment of Change, edited by Rose Lemberg. The contributors to this anthology include many fine poets, among them Ursula K. Le Guin, Delia Sherman, Theodora Goss, Amal El-Mohtar, Vandana Singh, Nisi Shawl, Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe, Athena Andreadis, Jo Walton, and Catherynne M. Valente. The cover art comes to us courtesy of the fabulous Terri Windling. Rose Lemberg writes in her introduction that “Literature of the fantastic allows us to create worlds and visions of society, origins, social justice and identity,” but notes that “even though we are in the world, our voices are folded into the creases. We speak from memory of stories told sidewise. We speak from pain; is that serious enough? The world has not been welcoming, but what other world is there?”

“In these pages,” Rose summarizes, “you will find works in a variety of genres—works that can be labeled mythic, fantastic, science fictional, historical, surreal, magic realist, and unclassifiable; poems by people of color and white folks; by poets based in the US, Canada, Britain, India, Spain, and the Philippines; by first- and second-generation immigrants; by the able-bodied and the disabled; by straight and queer poets who may identify as women, men, trans, and genderqueer.” Rose reminds us, quoting Audre Lorde, that "poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence." I published this book because I thought we needed it. 

Copies are available now from Aqueduct Press here; we'll of course be selling it at WisCon, where Rose and several of the contributors will be launching it at a reading. And by the end of the month, it should be available elsewhere.