I have to agree there is something faintly absurd about some of the specialized calls for poems. There do seem to be less of them, compared to the 70s and 80s; I recall a call for poems about lesbians and their cats.
But I do think woman-only anthologies still play an important role, since women's writing is not selected in equitable numbers for the important anthologies yet. Even more radical would be an "important" anthology of contemporary poetry which included both sexes but tipped the scales in the favor of women because the selected poems were deemed worthier.
Guys reading here: suppose you spent fifty bucks on the New Oxford Book of Contemporary Poems in English and 70% of the poems included were by females. Wouldn't you be miffed? Now imagine that this, and worse, has been the situation for your entire lifetime and that of the planet? Almost everything published by your sex was either by written by "Anonymous" or by some token male (if that thing can even be imagined). Wouldn't you want a fairer representation? Wouldn't you cry for poetic justice? Wouldn't you organize, wouldn't you publish anthologies of your own just to celebrate your work and get it out there?
C'mon. We're not brandishing fists here, we're pointing out that justice is not being served. I realize that 2009 is not 1959; things are better now but there's room for improvement. As far as I'm concerned, goodly blokes like Quincy and Bob/Roger are right on board with this and are abundantly welcome to the cause.
As for the Poetic Justice Forum, it seems to be dying even as it is being born. Not many posting there. Reluctance? Disinterest? Time will tell.
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