Raising Water and The Poetics of Resistance: Two Approaches

Abstract

This research is situated at a pivotal intersection of criticism and practice, generating both critical and creative work. As such, it is presented in two parts. First is the creative work, which takes the form of a poetry collection titled 'Raising Water'. Second is the critical study titled 'The Poetics of Resistance: Ecofeminist Readings of Three Contemporary Irish Women Poets', which explores ecofeminist aspects of poetry by Colette Bryce, Caitríona O’Reilly and Jessica Traynor. Using close reading as a primary methodology, this work reads the ways ecological and gender-based oppressions are framed through the non-human other across each poet’s oeuvre. Through its dual aspect, this project considers how language can function as resistance and how poetry can be read as activism in the face of these twin crises.