Sir, - I recently did a workshop on women's poetry and it galled me to discover that the number of women poets on the English syllabus for the Leaving Certificate remains exactly the same as it was in 1974, when I myself did the Leaving.
Emily Dickinson was certainly a brilliant and original poet, but it is just not good enough that she is the sole example on the syllabus of poetry by women. It is hard to believe that 24 years later nothing has changed. While I enjoy the work of many male poets, I am absolutely certain that this male bias did little to encourage me to believe I could write poetry myself.
There are a great number of 20th-century women poets who should be on that syllabus. Internationally, there are Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetayeva, Wislawa Symborska, Sylvia Plath, H.D., Adrienne Rich, Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Denise Levertov and Muriel Rukeyser. These are just a few who come immediately to mind. In an Irish context there are Eavan Boland, Eithne Strong, Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Medbh McGuckian, Paula Meehan and many more.
The work of these and other women could offer an exciting and meaningful alternative to some of those currently on the syllabus. - Yours, etc.,
Mary Shine,
Stannaway Road,
Crumlin,
Dublin 12.