THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Sandra Gilbert

December 27, 1936 – November 10, 2024

“I see myself as a poet, critic and a feminist, hoping each ‘self’ enriches the others. As a poet, however, I’m superstitious about becoming too self-conscious; as a critic, I want to stay close to the sources of poetry; as a feminist, I try to keep my priorities clear without sermonizing.”

Literary critic and poet. Published in the fields of feminist literary criticism, feminist theory and psychoanalytic criticism. Best known for collaborative critical work with Susan Gubar, with whom she co-authored, among other works, The Madwoman in the Attic (1979). Madwoman in the Attic is widely recognized as a text central to second-wave feminism. Professor Emerita of English at the University of California, Davis.