The Race for Daphne - Paperback

by Sarah C. Beckmann (Author)

The Race for Daphne, a collection of poetry structured as a crew race, reflects a metaphor: life is a race, a battle. The speaker views life through the lenses of girlhood, womanhood, and motherhood, and through the experiences of being a rower and writer. Heroes, poets, and athletes crowned with laurel wreaths in ancient Greco-Roman times were usually male-these poems subvert that narrative in contemporary times by revealing unsung heroism in the ordinary, domestic, and female. These pieces describe the people and places that impact the speaker; they celebrate what it means to be loved, explore the idea of home, and question the home that American women currently inhabit. They ask what art can do in war. The Greek mythological figure Daphne becomes emblematic of not only the speaker's pursuit of self-identity and master poet status-to win laurels at the end of the race-but also the longer race for women's rights.