"Little Immigrants"

This special issue of Poem is dedicated to women writers’ responses to “Brexit” – the term coined to capture the possibility that Britain (i.e. the United Kingdom) might choose to “exit” the European Union (EU) as a result of the advisory referendum of 23 June 2016. The idea to call for submissions on Brexit grew out of what we had originally intended would be simply a discussion over coffee on health, poetry, and intersectionality. After just 45 minutes, however, the idea of examining gendered reactions to Brexit had already taken shape. We were not necessarily seeking polemic responses, but rather those that were complex, layered, and even indirect: responses that “the Brexit event” had evoked. We therefore invited women poets, philosophers, theorists, and writers to address a variety of aspects of the Brexit phenomenon, including the propaganda that preceded the vote itself and the governmental game-playing that followed, the new climate of public opinion, and the post-Brexit future. The result is a substantial, curated volume that aims to create a dialogue about Brexit and what it means for women both in and – particularly – beyond Britain.

Fiona Sampson, Editor-in-Chief