'In this fourth major poetry collection, Claire Gaskin re-envisions the myth of Antigone by focusing on her sister Ismene. Assuming the voice of a contemporary Ismene, she asks us to consider what survivable resistance might look like for those who live on after tragedy? What kind of avenues are available to resist autocratic and patriarchal structures of power? How might we imagine a future that is different to our past and instigate real change at both a personal and public level?
'Ismene’s accommodation of and respect for difference is privileged in these poems, as is her credo of care in situations that seem overwhelmingly difficult or impossible: ‘remember those who love you love you still’. The poems identify and expose inner and outer silencing devices and refuse to be silenced. Powerfully evocative and cumulative in its reflective intensity, Ismene’s Survivable Resistance demonstrates how creative engagement can enable connections between the seemingly fragmentary and how poetic form not only provides a crucial means to hear those who have survived abuses of power but can also be the vehicle for change.'(Publication summary)
'In Sophocles’ play Antigone, the titular character is, inevitably, the star. Second up is Creon, Antigone’s uncle, who has decreed his nephew – Antigone’s brother – will not have a burial, and anyone who attempts to bury him will be killed. Next in line is Polynices, the dead brother who somehow, even in his complete absence, remains a primary character to the secondary Ismene, Antigone’s sister. Ismene is merely a prompt of dialogue in the opening scenes, speaking to inform plot and showcase Antigone’s righteousness. She’s a follower, full of uncertainty and, when tested, wish-washy. Antigone, in contrast, is steadfast and rogue, and she dies of these virtues – that and being buried alive for trying to bury her brother. It would seem Antigone’s resistance doesn’t do her any favours while Ismene’s gift for obeying is to live, so what is left of a secondary character when the primary one dies? Sophocles wrote many an Oedipus spin-off (and Antigone is one) but he did not write the play about Ismene. Claire Gaskin wrote the book.' (Introduction)
'In Sophocles’ play Antigone, the titular character is, inevitably, the star. Second up is Creon, Antigone’s uncle, who has decreed his nephew – Antigone’s brother – will not have a burial, and anyone who attempts to bury him will be killed. Next in line is Polynices, the dead brother who somehow, even in his complete absence, remains a primary character to the secondary Ismene, Antigone’s sister. Ismene is merely a prompt of dialogue in the opening scenes, speaking to inform plot and showcase Antigone’s righteousness. She’s a follower, full of uncertainty and, when tested, wish-washy. Antigone, in contrast, is steadfast and rogue, and she dies of these virtues – that and being buried alive for trying to bury her brother. It would seem Antigone’s resistance doesn’t do her any favours while Ismene’s gift for obeying is to live, so what is left of a secondary character when the primary one dies? Sophocles wrote many an Oedipus spin-off (and Antigone is one) but he did not write the play about Ismene. Claire Gaskin wrote the book.' (Introduction)
