Hello dear readers—
The weeks seem to be flying as the snow melts. Sharing a few links to some favorite reads and a poem for your week.
Trinity College Dublin has a new research project that will use artificial intelligence and other digital technologies to uncover women’s experiences in Ireland from 1500 to 1700.
I am just so moved and delighted by each full moon for many reason, including that it means there will be a new
Lunar Dispatch essay to read.Botany was a realm for women until science grew into a ‘profession,’ when ‘observational’ science—accessible to women—was no longer considered real science, which is done in a lab (i.e., outside the home). Lydia Ernestine Baker corresponded with Darwin and made important discoveries until she too was sidelined.
Intrigued to learn more about Mary Taylor, traveler, entrepreneur, and friend to Charlotte Brontë.
And in that same vein, an older article (but a good one) celebrating literary women’s friendships, and how the ideal of a lone genius ignores the reality of any creative work.
With daily thoughts of all who are being lost in the Middle East, I remembered this article about Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim woman (and writer) who spied for the British in WWII, until she was captured and killed by the Gestapo in 1944.
And a poem by my friend, poet Tara Ballard, which was shared recently by another poet friend
who writes the daily Poetry Stash:There Are Days When You Don't Know What To Say
When your students ask you questions,
tell you what happened, tell you what they saw—
When you turn on Al Jazeera and find the street you traveled
this morning filling with soldiers and riots—
When you read the local news and recognize in photographs
what those back home will never be allowed to see—
When the immediate need is to breathe,
to step outside and rest low upon the steps—
When the wild dog comes to you, throwing himself
against you, wagging his tail for affection, a scratch behind the ears—
When dirt and rain streak his unwashed fur,
but his eyes are asking for love,
and there is more of God in his face
than in your own.
Love this, Freya!
Thanks for introducing me to these incredible historical figures. And what a poem!