Elaine Showalter: "The Vintage Book of American Women Writers"

Summary

The speaker, reflecting on their early career as a PhD, shares their experience editing a pioneering feminist anthology titled *Women's Liberation and Literature* in 1970. They discuss the challenges of securing permissions to reprint works, especially poems by Sylvia Plath, and the financial constraints they faced. The narrative highlights how literature intersects with commerce, and the complexities of producing anthologies in today's market. The speaker also outlines their work on a later anthology, emphasizing the struggles and bureaucracy involved in obtaining rights and permissions from various copyright holders.

Takeaways

• 📚 The speaker edited their first anthology in 1970 titled 'Women's Liberation and Literature', which was one of the first textbooks for feminist criticism.
• 👩‍🎓 As a new PhD and assistant professor, the speaker felt a sense of responsibility in creating the anthology, even though they had limited knowledge of available texts at the time.
• 💵 The speaker encountered the financial realities of literary publishing, including paying for reprint permissions, which was unexpected.
• 📝 The speaker originally wanted to include Sylvia Plath’s poem 'Daddy', but due to the high cost ($100), they settled for another poem, 'Lesbos', at a lower price.
• 💡 This experience taught the speaker that literature is a business and that works of art are commodities in the marketplace, impacting how they view literature ever since.
• 🔖 In 2003, the speaker signed a contract with Knopf to write 'A Jury of Her Peers', a literary history of women writers in America, which led to the creation of a new anthology to accompany it.
• 📖 The speaker aimed to create a portable, economical anthology that reflected the diversity of American women’s writing, avoiding the exhaustive, textbook-like nature of many large anthologies.
• 🔍 With the help of a Mellon Foundation grant, three graduate assistants helped the speaker research and uncover lesser-known works by American women writers.
• 💰 The permissions process was a major challenge, with vintage allowing $20,000 for permissions fees for works published after 1922, a small fraction compared to larger textbook publishers.
• 🤯 The speaker was surprised by the bureaucratic obstacles and lack of enthusiasm from copyright holders, who often didn’t see the value in having lesser-known works reprinted in the anthology.

Q & A

What was the first anthology the speaker edited?

The first anthology the speaker edited was titled 'Women's Liberation and Literature,' published by Harcourt Brace in 1970.

Why did the speaker feel a sense of responsibility when editing her first anthology?

The speaker felt a sense of responsibility because it was her first assistant professorship job, and she was conscious of the importance of the book for her projected readers.

What challenge did the speaker face when trying to include Sylvia Plath’s poem 'Daddy' in the anthology?

The speaker faced the challenge of an expensive permission fee to include Sylvia Plath’s poem 'Daddy.' The fee was $100, which was costly for her as she had limited funds.

How did the speaker’s experience with Sylvia Plath’s poems change her view on literature?

The experience made the speaker realize that literature is a business, where poems and other literary works are products in a marketplace, with market value playing a significant role alongside critical reception.

What alternative poem by Sylvia Plath did the speaker choose for her anthology, and why?

The speaker chose Sylvia Plath’s poem 'Lesbos,' a long and magnificent poem, because it was less expensive ($50) than 'Daddy' and fit within her budget.

What was the speaker’s goal for her anthology 'A Jury of Her Peers'?

The goal of 'A Jury of Her Peers' was to create a literary history of American women writers, covering a wide range of writers and showcasing their significant works.

What was unique about the speaker’s anthology compared to other anthologies on the market?

The speaker’s anthology was unique because it aimed to be a more accessible, portable, and economical collection for general readers and undergraduates, without the heavy apparatus or high costs of typical multivolume textbooks.

What financial limitations did the speaker face while creating her anthology?

The speaker had a financial limitation of $220,000 in permissions fees, which was far less than what larger textbook publishers had available. This restricted the number of works she could include.

Why was the speaker surprised by the reactions of some copyright holders?

The speaker was surprised that many copyright holders were not excited about having long-forgotten works republished in a significant anthology, as she had expected them to be.

What lesson did the speaker learn from the process of securing permissions for her anthology?

The speaker learned that securing permissions involved dealing with bureaucracy, inefficiency, and resistance from copyright holders, which was a frustrating and eye-opening experience for her.