Surrealist Women : An International Anthology

Penelope Rosemont has assembled nearly 300 texts by 96 women from 28 countries. She opens the book with a summary of surrealism's basic aims and principles, followed by a discussion of the place of gender in the origins of the movement.
Though surrealism has often been viewed as a male-dominated movement, women (many more than the few well-known artists such as Lenora Carrington and Frida Kahlo) have been integral to its development. In this first anthology of writings by women Surrealists, drawn from an impressively global group, Rosemont (Beware of the Ice and Other Poems, Black Swan, 1992) dives deeper than the extant writing on the movement to unearth the women involved since its inception. These varied writings?automatic texts, prose pieces, critical tracts, Surrealist inquiries (e.g., "Would You Open the Door?"), and results of Surrealist games (e.g., "Time-Traveler's Potlatch")?offer a history of women's formative participation in surrealism's past and create a context for its future. Rosemont's insightful introduction, short essays prefacing each major period of the movement, and brief bibliographies illuminate a vibrant revolution in process.