Surrealist Women

Template:Italic title Template:About Surrealist Women: An International Anthology is an anthology edited by Penelope Rosemont. It was published by University of Texas Press in 1998.<ref name="Miller">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Hinrichs">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="CottenetHage">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Lowy">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Beer">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Womans">Template:Cite journal</ref>

The anthology is a chronological presentation of surrealist writing by women, including poetry, tales, theory, responses to inquiries, critiques, declarations, etc.<ref name="Miller"/><ref name="Hinrichs"/><ref name="Womans"/> 97 women are represented,<ref name="CottenetHage"/><ref name="Womans"/> from 30 countries<ref name="Womans"/> in Western and Eastern Europe, including Sweden, Moravia, and Corsica; North and South America, including Argentina; the Caribbean; the Middle East (e.g. Iraq); and Australia.<ref name="CottenetHage"/><ref name="Beer"/> The editor provides an introductory essay to each of the six chronological periods into which the anthology is organised (1924-1929; 1930-1939; 1940-1945; 1946-1959; the years surrounding May '1968'; and the present),<ref name="CottenetHage"/> and short biographies/bibliographies about each woman.<ref name="CottenetHage"/><ref name="Beer"/> Two thirds of the works had not previously been included in an anthology, and many had not been republished since their first appearance.<ref name="Beer"/>

Reviewers considered that the anthology "has the characteristics of a classic. .. it is a book that will be definitive and delightful for many years to come";<ref name="Beer"/> it "not only adds to our knowledge of specific writers, but changes our understanding of surrealist art."<ref name="Hinrichs"/> In her introduction, Rosemont disputes some commonly held misconceptions about surrealism, including that it was sexist and did not encourage women's participation.<ref name="CottenetHage"/> Instead, she presents a case that "surrealism was both accepting of and tremendously influenced by women members",<ref name="Hinrichs"/> and their obscurity was due to critics, not male members of the surrealist movement.<ref name="Hinrichs"/>

One reviewer observed that "By the penultimate chapter a lot of the names of the women are familiar; we have read their work and delighted in their growth since their first appearance in this anthology. ... As each section examines a period separately .. the same names re-occur in different groupings, different guises. ... as the names shuffle about, the events, countries, times and mediums alter; then there is achieved this dream-like quality within the infrastructure of the book. Surrealism emerges unbidden!"<ref name="Beer"/>