A beautiful collection of poems to nourish, inspire and change the women who read them.

This transformative collection of poems by female poets through the ages sing to us across the centuries. These poems span the worlds of desire, love and friendship, of responsibility, hardship and care, of family and friends and lovers. Their words empower us with strength and courage, fill us with verve and spirit, and inspire creativity and imagination.

Contemporary voices of Fiona Benson and Jane Yeh join the evocative imagery of Christina Rossetti, Anna Akhmatova and Emily Dickinson. Even the haunting voices of ancient Sappho, Venmaniputti and Li Qingzhao touch today's generation. Here are poems written by women, with women's lives in mind. As Gertrude Stein writes, 'such a sweet singing' is in the poetry that comes to us clear and lovely from out of the dark. 

Read these poems aloud. Remember them. Share them.



Kirsty Gunn is a novelist and writer of short stories. Her stories include "Rain", which led to the 2001 film of the same name, and her novel The Boy and the Sea won the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year award in 2007. Her 2012 novel The Big Music won the Book of the Year in the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Awards. She is professor of writing practice at the University of Dundee.



'A book worth shouting about, whispering with, and treasuring'



'Lavishly and strikingly illustrated, this book of poems holds at least eight times its weight in thirst-slaking nourishment.'