The Sacking of the Muses

The Muses have been sacked, their role in the pantheon sold up for some new real estate venture. When the Muses are sacked, what are we to do? The Muses inspire poetry, astronomy, history and daily living; they bring their song and dance into present-day political struggles. These Muses are for rebellion. Susan Hawthorne's poems span millennia of resistance by women. The earth itself is implicated. She writes about how women's bodies are used, abused and celebrated in birthing, sexual pleasure, grief, and imagining. She draws on stories from ancient and contemporary India, Greece, and Rome, through language, storytelling and translation.