Murphy, Kay and Beverly Rainbolt, eds. Women Poets: Workshop into Print, New Orleans: In(her)itance Press, 2003.

by Naomi Ayala

In Women Poets: Workshop into Print, Kay Murphy and Beverly Rainbolt round up the work of six poets from a women's poetry group of which both authors are members and whose work also appears in this part-anthology, part-journal.

Workshop into Print opens with both an introduction and a preface that, in a roundabout manner, attempt to discuss the book's purpose while describing the workshop that led to its creation, as well as the authors and their work. What we do learn is the internal workings of this specific writing group, begun and nestled in New Orleans as a response to mixed-gender groups that lacked respect and dignity for women's work. These women, like others throughout the country, sought a place where they could feel valued for their own literary contributions.