This is a list of feminist poets. Historically, literature has been a male-dominated sphere, and any poetry written by a woman could be seen as

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. Often, feminist poetry refers to that which was composed after the 1960s and the second wave of the feminist movement. This list focuses on poets who take explicitly feminist approaches to their poetry.

A–D

* Kathy Acker (1947–1997), American

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

novelist, punk poet, playwright and essayist *

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...

(1928–2014), American author and poet * Elvia Ardalani (born 1963), Mexican poet, writer and storyteller *

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

(born 1939), Canadian poet, novelist and critic * Maryam Jafari Azarmani (born 1977), Iranian poet, Sonneteer, essayist, literary critic, translator * Addie L. Ballou (1837–1916), American poet and suffragist * Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), American modernist lesbian writer * Aphra Behn (1640–1689), dramatist of the

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

and among first English professional female writers * Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979), American poet and short-story writer * Eavan Boland (1944–2020), Irish poet * Sophia Elisabet Brenner (1659–1730), Swedish writer, poet, feminist and salon hostess * Olga Broumas (born 1949), Greek poet living in the United States * Lucille Clifton (1936–2010), American writer and educator * Ellen Melicent Cobden (1848–1914), British writer, radical campaigner and suffragist * Mary Collier (c. 1688–1762), English poet * Jeni Couzyn (born 1942), Canadian poet and anthologist of South African extraction * Rosemary Daniell (born 1935), American poet and author, known as a second-wave feminist and for writing about the deep south * H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) (1886–1961), American poet, novelist and memoirist known for

Imagist Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized literary modernism, modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism has bee ...

poetry * Diane Di Prima (1934–2020), American poet * Zoraida Díaz (1881–1948), Panamanian poet, educator, and feminist * Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), American poet * Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955), Scottish poet and playwright; first female and first Scottish Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom * Rachel Blau DuPlessis (born 1941), American poet and essayist known as a feminist critic and scholar

E–K

* Muzi Epifani (1935–1984), Italian writer and poet * Mary Eliza Fullerton (1868–1946), Australian feminist poet, short story writer, journalist and novelist * Alice Fulton (born 1952), American author, poet * Frances Dana Barker Gage (1808–1884), American writer, poet, reformer,

and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

* Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935), American sociologist, author, poet and lecturer for social reform * Hedwig Gorski (born 1949), American poet, author, artist, dramatist, and scholar * Judy Grahn (born 1940), American feminist, lesbian poet * Barbara Guest (1920–2006), American poet, author * Marilyn Hacker (born 1942), American poet, translator and critic * Judith Hall (born 1951), American poet, literary editor, educational writer, essayist, illustrator and educator * Jane Eaton Hamilton (born 1954), Canadian poet, fiction writer, photographer, and visual artist * Gwen Harwood (1920–1995), Australian poet and

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

* Allison Hedge Coke (born 1958), American/Canadian poet *

Lyn Hejinian Lyn Hejinian ( ; May 17, 1941 – February 24, 2024) was an American poet, essayist, translator, and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is known for her landmark work ''My Life'' (Sun & Moon (publisher), Sun & Moon, 198 ...

(born 1941), American poet, essayist, translator and publisher * Dorothy Hewett (1923–2002), Australian feminist poet, novelist, librettist and playwright * Susan Howe (born 1937), American poet, scholar, essayist and critic; closely associated with the Language poets * Terri L. Jewell (1954–1995), American author, poet and Black lesbian activist * Kiyémis (born 1993), French Afro-feminist and poet * Carolyn Kizer (1925–2014), Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet; noted for her feminist poetry

L–R

* Sue Lenier (born 1957), English poet and playwright * Anna Maria Lenngren (1754–1817), Swedish writer, poet, feminist, translator and salonnière * Denise Levertov (1923–1997), British-born American poet * Patricia Lockwood (born 1982), American poet and essayist * Audre Lorde (1934–1992), Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist * Mina Loy (1882–1966), artist, poet, playwright and novelist, Futurist * Chris Mansell (born 1953), Australian poet and publisher * Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950), American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist * Gabriela Mistral (Lucila Godoy Alcayaga) (1889–1957),

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an poet, educator and feminist; first

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

to win Nobel Prize in Literature *

Marianne Moore Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American Modernism, modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for its formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. In 1968 Nobel Prize in Li ...

(1887–1972), American Modernist poet and writer * Barbara Mor (1936–2015), American feminist of the Goddess movement * Robin Morgan (born 1941), American poet, author, political theorist and activist * Eileen Myles (born 1949) American poet and writer,

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

recipient and

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

activist * Kishwar Naheed (born 1940), Urdu poet from Pakistan known for her pioneering feminist poetry * Lorine Niedecker (1903–1970), American poet; only woman associated with Objectivist poets * Barbara Noda (1953), third generation Japanese American poet * Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht (1718–1763), Swedish poet, feminist and salon hostess * Alice Notley (born 1945), American poet and feminist * Alicia Ostriker (born 1937), American poet and scholar writing Jewish

poetry * Grace Paley (1922–2007), American-Jewish

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer, poet, and political activist * Sylvia Pankhurst (1882–1960), English suffragist, poet * Dorothy Parker (1893–1967), American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist * Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), American poet, novelist and short story writer * Katha Pollitt (born 1949), American feminist poet, essayist and critic * Qiu Jin (1875–1907), Chinese revolutionary, feminist and writer * Rita Mae Reese (living), American poet, fiction writer, and publisher * Fahmida Riaz (1946–2018), Urdu writer, poet, and feminist of Pakistan * Adrienne Rich (1929–2012), American poet, essayist and feminist * Dorothy Richardson (1873–1957), English novelist, poet, essayist and short story writer * Lola Ridge (1873–1941),

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

poet and editor of

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

, feminist, and

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

publications * Ethel Rolt-Wheeler (1869–1958), English poet, author and journalist * Christina Rossetti (1830–1894), English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems * Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980), American poet and political activist

S–Z

* Nandini Sahu (born 1973),

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n poet writing in English * Sonia Sanchez (born 1934), African-American poet often associated with Black Arts Movement * Sappho ( fl. 6th century BCE),

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

poet; one of the nine lyric poets * Henriette Sauret (1890-1976), French feminist pacifist poet, writer, journalist * Anne Sexton (1928–1974), American poet known for personal, confessional verse * Parveen Shakir (1952–1994), Urdu poet, teacher and civil servant in Pakistan * Jo Shapcott (born 1953), English poet, editor and lecturer * Elena Shirman (1908–1942), Russian poet * Edith Sitwell (1887–1964), British poet and critic, eldest of three literary Sitwells * Stevie Smith (1902–1971), English poet and novelist * Gertrude Stein (1874–1946), American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of life in France * Alfonsina Storni (1892–1938), Swiss-Argentine poet * Lynn Strongin (born 1939), American poet * May Swenson (1913–1989), American poet and playwright * Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), American lyrical poet * Ann Townsend (born 1962) American poet and essayist * Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941), Russian and Soviet poet * Anne Waldman (born 1945), American poet * Rosmarie Waldrop (born 1935), American poet, translator and publisher * Alice Walker (born 1944), American author, poet, and activist * Phyllis Webb (1927–2021), Canadian poet and radio broadcaster * Nellie Wong (born 1934), Chinese-American feminist poet * Merle Woo (born 1941), Asian-American teacher, poet and activist * Judith Wright (1915–2000), Australian poet,

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights * Elinor Wylie (1885–1928), American poet and novelist * Halima Xudoyberdiyeva (1947–2018), Uzbek poet; People's Poet of Uzbekistan * Mitsuye Yamada (born 1923), Japanese-American activist, feminist, essayist, poet, story writer, editor, and professor * Esperanza Zambrano (1901-1992), Mexican poet of Modernismo movement

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feminist poets Feminist poets Feminist poets

Poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...