The Language of Exclusion is a pioneering feminist critical study of two of the most enigmatic 19th-century women poets--Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti. The authors take as their point of departure the spinster/recluse model, which they argue has characterized most biographies of 19th-century women poets written before 1960. Rejecting this model, they build instead on the rich tradition of feminist literary criticism exemplified by the work of writers like Elaine Showalter, Lillian Robinson, and Martha Vicinus. In The Language of Exclusion they focus on the shared historical experience of these two most private poets to reveal their public significance and demonstrate the inadequacy of the spinster/recluse model.

The Language of Exclusion: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti (Contributions in Women's Studies)

Literature & Fiction

Leder, Sharon

History & Criticism

Praeger

Who is Josef Katz? The fun-loving, harmonica-playing dad Sara loves so much? Or the monster who abuses Sara's mother and locks himself in the bathroom, unable to beat his addiction? Eight-year-old Sara Katz huddles under the covers, listening to her parents' muffled arguments and fighting the sleep that inevitably brings her bad dreams―dreams of her terrifying Shadow Father, a heroin addict. Is my daddy not a good father? Is it my job to fix him? As Josef's sickness worsens, young Sara is torn apart by her family's need to keep its "shame" a secret from its Jewish community in Brooklyn. Sara finds herself drawn to the liberation movements of the 1960s while feeling trapped in the darkness of her father's addiction and, ultimately, his untimely death. Will Sara ever learn the truth about how her father became addicted and why he couldn't get well? How will she find her own identity if her family can't embrace its truth? And if Sara reveals her father's secret, will she find freedom―or destroy her family? The author's proceeds from The Fix will benefit The Fix Fund, which was established to battle the addiction epidemic in the Cape Cod area.

The Fix: A Father's Secrets, A Daughter's Search

United States

KiCam Projects, LLC

Three groundbreaking Jewish feminists-- women's historian Gerda Lerner, feminist Surrealist artist Susana Wald, and former CEO of American Jewish World Service (AJWS) Ruth W. Messinger--devoted their careers to a universal message inherent in the Jewish tradition-no one should be made into a stranger. Though different in their personal histories and professional fields they found ways to empower marginalized and outcast populations doing so publicly and intentionally as Jews after significant periods of having muted Jewish identity. Their lives raise the question: Is simultaneous commitment possible both to Jewish continuity and to helping non-Jewish strangers in need? Ruth W. Messinger, probably the most well-known, made it clear and public only once she became CEO of American Jewish World Service that being Jewish means being your brother's and sister's keeper, regardless of their nation, race, sexual identity, class or religion. She expanded the Jewish universe of obligation to include non-Jews in crisis around the world. Both Gerda Lerner and Susana Wald were Holocaust survivors who escaped to the Americas from dictatorships. Following the command in Exodus, "You shall not oppress a stranger . . . having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt," they connected their vulnerability as Jews in Europe to populations in the U.S., Chile, and Mexico also targeted by discrimination-women, Blacks, and indigenous peoples. Gerda Lerner, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, demonstrated the existence of American women's history, including Black women's history, as academic fields of study. Why did she mute her Jewish identity until the last decades of her career when the first intifada in Israel broke out? Susana Wald is one among few female Surrealist artists devoted to social change who is not known as "wife of . . .". Why did she mute Jewish identity for years, until the mass demonstrations for indigenous people's rights in Oaxaca, Mexico when she addressed audiences in person and on radio? For Jews and non-Jews, this book illuminates how universal values drive three women to become public about Jewish identity because they view the purpose of Jewish life to be alleviating inequity and suffering of all people.

Three Groundbreaking Jewish Feminists: Pursuing Social Justice

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Hybrid Global Publishing

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Books by Leder, Sharon