SOURCE: "Sexual Politics in Diane Wakoski's Poetry," in Hecate, Vol. 1, No. 1, July, 1975, pp. 89-94.

In the following essay that centers on Virtuoso Literature for Two and Four Hands, Ferrier takes up the issue of the feminist content of Wakoski's poetry. The critic notes that Wakoski's work details the difficulty and pain of women's lives, yet it often fails to present females that are "more free" than her typical, oppressed figures or that have completely given up conventional feminine roles and aspirations.

This is approximately the seventeenth volume of poetry that the American poet Diane Wakoski has published since her first, Coins and Coffins, in 1962. In it, many of the themes and concerns of the earlier volumes are taken up again and explored further. These themes include, centrally, problems of personal relationships, and the function and role of poetry, and art in general. Sexual politics are central to many...