Climbing the Fire Escape, Flipping the Raft

These award-winning poems contemplate and celebrate a range of strong, resilient women characters in eighteen movies ranging from classic blockbusters to quiet indie films, from thrillers to comedies to historical dramas. Written during the COVID pandemic when millions of people watched movies at home instead of at theaters, each poem is dedicated to the movie's starring actress-Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, Helen Mirren, Viola Davis, Penelope Cruz and others-and each poem accentuates the bold actions necessary for women old and young to triumph over tough times, bad guys, and assorted monsters. Author Kathleen McClung "may be the finest poet writing in form today," says novelist and poet Jim Daniels, and this book, her sixth, sparkles with sonnets, villanelles, sestinas, pantoums, and other traditional verse forms. Climbing the Fire Escape, Flipping the Raft: Poems on Women in Movies makes a great gift for movie buffs, poetry lovers, and anyone inspired by courageous women.