Elaine Showalter: "The Vintage Book of American Women Writers"
Summary
TLDRThe 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.
Outlines
📚 Early Experiences in Anthology Publishing
The speaker reflects on their first experience as a new PhD in 1970, editing an anthology titled 'Women's Liberation and Literature', which they believe was the first textbook for feminist criticism. They felt a strong sense of responsibility towards their readers. The process of selecting texts was straightforward, but they encountered a significant financial hurdle when seeking copyright permissions to reprint works, particularly Sylvia Plath's poem 'Daddy'. The cost was prohibitive, leading them to choose a less expensive poem, 'Lesbos', instead. This experience was a pivotal moment in their career, teaching them that literature is a business where market value plays a crucial role alongside critical reception. Despite the financial constraints, they found a wonderful poem that they could afford, highlighting that sometimes such limitations can lead to discovering hidden gems. The speaker also discusses their more recent work on a new anthology, which includes two poems by Sylvia Plath, expressing that they still cannot afford 'Daddy' due to its high cost.
💼 The Business of Anthology Publishing
The speaker discusses the current state of anthology publishing, dominated by large publishers with the resources to hire skilled editors and pay high permissions fees. They note the trend towards more elaborate, expensive textbooks, often packaged with additional materials. The speaker's goal was to create a more accessible anthology for general readers and students, without the constraints of textbook committees. With the help of a grant and graduate assistants, they researched and selected works for their anthology, aiming for a diverse representation of American women writers. They faced challenges with copyright permissions, needing to secure rights for works published after 1922, which varied by country. The publisher, Vintage, provided a budget and page limit, which the speaker found frustrating as they had to negotiate with copyright holders. The speaker was surprised by the resistance from copyright holders, who were not always supportive of reprinting lesser-known works, despite the potential to introduce them to new audiences. This part of the script provides insight into the commercial and bureaucratic challenges of compiling an anthology.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Anthology
💡Feminist Criticism
💡Sylvia Plath
💡Copyright Permissions
💡Ted Hughes
💡Market Value of Literature
💡Anthology Publishing
💡Permissions Fees
💡Women Writers
💡Literary History
Highlights
In 1970, the speaker edited their first anthology, 'Women's Liberation and Literature,' which is considered one of the first textbooks for feminist criticism.
The speaker, as a new PhD and assistant professor, felt a great sense of responsibility when assembling the anthology.
Obtaining reprint permissions was a shock for the speaker, as they encountered financial hurdles when trying to include Sylvia Plath’s poem 'Daddy.'
The speaker could not afford to include 'Daddy,' which was priced at $100, and settled for Plath's poem 'Lesbos' at $50.
This experience introduced the speaker to the commercial aspects of literature, realizing that poems and works are also products in a marketplace.
In the speaker's new collection, they included two of Sylvia Plath’s poems but still could not afford to reprint 'Daddy.'
The speaker’s realization: financial constraints can sometimes lead to discovering lesser-known, yet equally powerful, literary works.
In 2003, the speaker signed a contract with Knopf to write 'A Jury of Her Peers,' which was more of a literary history than an anthology.
The speaker aimed to create a portable, economical anthology reflecting the diversity of American women writers without the overwhelming apparatus of a textbook.
The anthology includes diverse works—stories, poems, and essays—by American women writers, intending to provide a partial canon of significant writers.
The speaker comments on how anthologies today are dominated by large publishers who can afford to pay high permission fees and cater to the textbook market.
Large anthologies aimed at the college textbook market have become extensive, often spanning multiple volumes with additional supplements like maps, pictures, and audio/video.
The speaker started with a list of ideal works but had to narrow it down due to the constraints of page count and permission fees.
They received a $20,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to hire graduate assistants to help research additional overlooked writers.
The speaker faced challenges with copyright permissions for 48 of the 100 writers they selected, learning about the bureaucracy and inefficiency in the process.
Transcripts
back when I was a a new PhD in in 1970 I
edited my first Anthology I don't even
think Barbara knows about this this is
it this worn out little red covered book
called women's Liberation and literature
and it was published by harcord brace
and I think it was the first textbook
for feminist criticism that had ever
been published I got to do it uh I was a
new PhD I was in my first assistant
professorship job and I felt a
tremendous sense of responsibility doing
this book to my projected
readers when I did it putting together
the list of texts that I wanted was
really not very hard especially because
in those days I didn't even know of that
many but I got a real shock when I sat
down to write to copyright holders for
permission to reprint the author's work
I had wanted to include Sylvia class
celebrated poem daddy you probably all
know that poem and I wanted to include
two other poems by pla I was really
going for for broke but when I wrote to
OLN Hughes who was pla's executive and
also the sister of her estranged husband
Ted Hughes and who was rumored to be
somewhat of a ferocious person OLN
responded that to reprint daddy would
cost me
$100 now I was paying for the permission
fee out of the pittance that I got for
doing the book and as a beginning
assistant professor with two kids I had
not very much money of my own and OLN
said that the other two poems I had
asked for were $50
each uh that was the beginning of my
literary career and I will tell you that
I settled for a $50 poem
um I struck a bargain and I bought a
poem called Lesbos which is really quite
a long poem it's a magnificent poem uh
about enmity between two women in spite
of the title It's a Wonderful poem which
was a cheaper poem than Daddy for
reasons that we can speculate about well
that was my introduction to the business
of the literary Anthology and as an
idealistic young scholar it had never
occurred to me that poems could be rated
by their ticket price as well as by
their quality but that experience really
changed my perceptions of literature
forever and from then on I really
understood I think that literature has
always been a business that poems
stories essays and novels are products
in a Marketplace as well as acts of the
creative imagination and that
professional writers depend on their
market value as well as their critical
reception in this new collection I have
two poems by Sylvia Plath and I have to
tell you I still can't afford daddy and
you know of course those $100 boy that
was an unbelievable bargain if it had
been a stock now I mean of course Daddy
has
escalated um so I still can't pay for it
and I've chosen two of pla's other poems
very powerful poems written in the last
few months before her suicide and I
realized that sometimes Financial
constraint forces you to look beyond the
conventional and find something really
wonderful uh not all the time but in
this case so fast forward to the
present uh in 203 I signed a contract
with knof to write a jury of her peers
which has many women writers in it but
it's a literary history more than an
anthology and my editor at knop
suggested to me that it would be a good
idea to put together an anthology to go
with it and to be published in paperback
by vintage and that's the book I'm
talking about today it was an extremely
welcome suggestion I know that many of
the works I talk about in jury for peers
are out of print they are very hard to
find and readers said to me where can I
get hold of these texts how can I uh now
that I'm interested in them I'm curious
about them where can I read them and I
knew from the beginning that it was a
given I could not possibly include all
the important work by American women
writers since
1650 in a single volume that that I knew
from the start on the other hand before
before this there has never been a
single volume anthology of American
women's writing from the beginning which
seemed to me kind of a you know
staggering Omission in the 21st century
and I knew that I wanted to make an
anthology I wanted to put together a
book that was portable that was
economical that wasn't weighted down by
all of the apparatus of a textbook that
brought together stories and poems and
essays by American women writers as many
as possible that would reflect their
diversity of subject and style works
that were beautiful or tragic or funny
or satiric or inspiring or all of the
above and the Anthology overall was
intended to offer kind of mini Canon a
partial list couldn't be a full list but
a partial list of who I think are the
most significant women writers in the
American uh literary tradition and to
provide a kind of map of their relation
to each other and to American Literature
in general so those are my aims now all
of us know uh I think that today the
Anthology is a
genre very much dominated by a few large
and Wealthy Publishers who can afford to
hire the knowledgeable editors and
researchers required to put a good book
together and who have the bottomless
Pockets to pay the Staggering
permissions fees for reprinting work in
copyright most of the important and
wide- ranging anthologies are aimed of
course at the textbook Market mostly the
college textbook Market they're
multivolume Works uh of over 5,000 Pages
they have vast budgets they have vast
sales they have something of a student
captive market and we can talk about
there's been quite a discussion recently
about the the price of textbooks for
college and university students and over
the past 15 years they have been getting
big
they have been getting more elaborate
they have been getting more expensive
they are packaged now with maps pictures
teaching manuals and in some cases audio
and video supplements so you are buying
really an entire experience when you buy
one of these anthologies now that's not
what I was trying to do or what I have
done I wanted to put together a book for
the general reader as well as the
undergraduate and to do it without the
orous committees and the consultations
of the big texts so I started out by
making a list of all the works I would
like to include in a utopian publishing
world and then with the help of a grant
from the melon Foundation I was able for
a year to pay three graduate assistants
two from Princeton and one from Harvard
to help me go through the libraries to
see if there were works and writers I
had
overlooked vintage had established a
rough guideline I'm going to going to
let you in on all of the oops there goes
my earring I was going to let you in on
all of the the uh statistics financial
statistics of putting Anthology together
vintage had established a rough
guideline of8 800
pages and they were willing to pay about
$220,000 in permissions fees which is uh
probably about a tenth or less than what
a big textbook publisher has available
this is huge business the Tex book
Anthology market now those are my
perimeters $800 Pages
$20,000 copyright law some of you may
know is different in every country the
guidelines in the United States that I
was given by my publisher were to get
permission for everything published
after
1922 uh they figured that would cover
everything Canadian law is different and
I had to get some Canadian rights as
well British law is also very different
but no British publisher was willing to
put up the money to produce an anthology
of American women writers and I think
that's a shame so that gives you a bit
of the
background however even with my
realistic even cynical view of the
commercial and financial aspects of
Anthology publishing and with the
encouragement and backup from my very
patient and endlessly optimistic editor
at vintage Diana secer Teesdale I was
really unprepared for the nightmare of
getting
permissions I cut my list to a 100
writers and I had to write for
permission copyright permissions for 48
of them 48 of them whose work was still
uh under copyright protection I started
a year before the publication date and
the year that followed a year ago in
other words was an education for me in
deenan
bureaucracy G need control freakery
inefficiency outright lying and the
blindness of copyright holders to the
circumstances of readership in the 21st
century I thought naively that many
executors and copyright holders would be
happy to have some long forgotten story
or poem by a writer that nobody had
talked about in 30 years 40 years 50
years I would come and say I'm going to
reprint this and it's going to be called
the vintage book of American women isn't
that wonderful not a bit of it
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