Red Hen Writers Tackle Feminism

Feminism comes under scrutiny in “Regarding Feminism,” next week’s virtual installment in the Red Hen Press Poetry Hour series hosted by acclaimed Pasadena-based writer/performer Sandra Tsing Loh with a taped appearance by feminist icon and Fear of Flying author Erica Jong. The free event, a collaboration between the Pasadena-based literary publisher and The Broad Stage at Home, streams live at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept.  24.

Jong sprang to fame with her 1973 novel that challenged conventional thinking about women, marriage and sexuality, going on to sell 37 million copies. In addition to Jong, Loh, whose latest comic memoir is The Madwoman and The Roomba (W.W. Norton), will take a deep dive into feminist issues with Judy Grahn, Amber Flame, C.  Bain and Monique Jenkinson.

“I believe we’ll be tracing the history/evolution of the female form,” Loh wrote in an email, “from the ancient Venus of Willendorf, through Fauxnique’s experiences evolving from the world of ballet (restrictive) to the world of drag (freeing), through Judy Grahn’s thoughts of evolving from ‘warriors’ in the 1960s to those seeking safe spaces today, to Amber Flame’s celebration of ‘nontraditional’ female bodies in burlesque.”

Loh added that it was unclear whether Friday’s passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would lead to a program change. The evening is planned as a cross-generational and cross-cultural discussion with a cabaret flair.

Born in the same generation as RBG,  the 80-year-old Judy Grahn started as a feminist poet repositioning lesbianism outside of men’s lurid fantasies and became a leading voice in queer culture. As a young woman, she briefly served in the military and went on to earn her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where she teaches about women’s mythology and ancient literature. Her work has been included in anthologies published by Penguin Books, Penngrove Press and Oxford University Press; she was also honored as the grand marshal of two gay pride parades. 

Pushcart Prize nominee and Jack Straw Writer Program alum Amber Flame recently had a solo exhibition, Black Imagination, at the Corey Gallery in Seattle. The Texas-born Flame is a writing instructor who was recently named program director for Hedgebrook–a literary retreat for women on Whidbey Island, Washington.  Currently working on a third poetry collection, this queer Black writer bills herself as “just one magic trick away from growing her unicorn horn.”

Brooklyn-based C. Bain is a multi- and interdisciplinary artist whose book of poetry, Debridement (Great Weather for Media) was a finalist for the 2016 Publishing Triangle Awards. Bain has done poetry slams and plays. Trained as a psychiatric social worker, Bain works with movement, embodiment, trauma and sexuality.

The program also includes Monique Jenkinson, who performs as cis-woman drag queen Fauxnique. Her stage persona combines cabaret with contemporary dance and is scheduled to appear in The F Word on The Broad Stage in Santa Monica next year.

Poets and their publication houses can’t  live on air and love. This year, the Red Hen Press’ 26th benefit goes virtual via the Zoom platform. The Oct. 25 champagne luncheon costs $50 per person with sponsorship beginning at $1,000. Scheduled to make presentations are Illinois educator and poet Allison Joseph (Confessions of a Bare-Faced Woman), novelist Aimee Liu (Glorious Boy) and New York Times Editors’ Choice author Maurice Carlos Ruffin (We Cast a Shadow). Also appearing are Richard Blanco, the presidential inaugural poet laureate for Barack Obama, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen. The pre-event begins at 12 p.m. and the one-hour live programming begins at 12:30 p.m. For more information, visit the Red Hen Press website.