The Creative Crone

Book excerpt: "Henneberg shows how these writers offer radically different but richly complementary strategies for breaking the silence surrounding age. Rich provides an approach to aging so strongly intertwined with other political issues that its complexity may keep us from immediately identifying age as one of her chief concerns. On the other hand, Sarton's direct treatment of aging sensitizes us to its importance and helps us see its significance in such writings as Rich's. Meanwhile, Rich's efforts to politicize age create stimulating contexts for Sarton's work. Henneberg explores elements of these writers' individual poems that develop themes of aging, including imagery and symbol, the construction of a persona, and the uses of rhythms to reinforce the themes. She also includes analyses of their fiction and nonfiction works and draws ideas from age studies by scholars such as Margaret Morganroth Gullette, Kathleen Woodward, and Thomas Cole."--From publisher description.