Rosemary Daniell (born November 29, 1935) is an American second-wave feminist poet and author. She is known for her poetry collection, "A Sexual Tour of the Deep South," that focused on anger and sexuality, as well as her memoirs "Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex, and Suicide in the Deep South" and "Sleeping with Soldiers: In Search of the Macho Man."
Early life and education Rosemary Daniell was born Rosemary Hughes in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 29, 1935. Following her family's move to Tucker, Georgia, when she was 16 years old, Daniell dropped out of Tucker High School to marry her first husband, Laurens Ramos.
Career
Daniell has authored ten books of poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction; appeared on various national television and radio shows; and lectured at numerous literary venues. https://www.savannahnow.com/story/entertainment/books/2024/07/31/a-celebration-of-savannah-literary-legend-rosemary-daniell/74592156007/ In 1981, Daniell founded a series of creative writing workshops for women in Savannah, Georgia. Speaking of her importance in the Savannah literary scene, New York Times bestselling author Bruce Feiler wrote: “Rosemary Daniell belongs in the Mount Rushmore of Savannah literary figures. And by that, I mean, Flannery O’Connor, Conrad Aiken, Johnny Mercer,” said Feiler, ticking off a list of marquee names to which she will belong one day. “She is right up there in the Top 10 literary figures that have ever come out of Savannah."
Formative experiences and early career In 1975, Daniell's mother died by suicide and her father died of cancer. That same year, she published her first book of poetry, A Sexual Tour of the Deep South. The book stirred controversy in the Bible Belt but was hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best works of feminist literature of the era. Her second poetry collection The Feathered Trees, published the following year, focused mostly on nature, while her third poetry collection Fort Bragg & Other Points South (1988) saw her return to writing about women's sexual experiences.
Her first memoir, Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex, and Suicide in the Deep South (1980), was partially inspired by her mother's unrealised talents as a writer and her subsequent suicide.
Daniell's second memoir, Sleeping with Soldiers (1985), draws from her experience as one of the first women to work on an oil rig. She describes the men she's attracted to as "macho men": physically strong and courageous risk-takers "who communicate viscerally and emotionally rather than intellectually."
Daniell's contributions to second-wave feminism are profiled in the book Feminists Who Changed America,1963–1975 by Barbara J. Love, editor and foreword by Nancy F. Cott.
Daniell's first book about her workshops, The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself: Writing and the Zona Rosa Way, was published by Faber and Faber in 1997; her second book about the writing workshops, Secrets of the Zona Rosa: How Writing (and Sisterhood) Can Change Women's Lives, was published by Henry Holt in 2006.
Daniell was awarded the Governor's Award in the Humanities in 2008 for her contributions to Georgia's literary heritage.
Teaching and the Zona Rosa writing group
In the 1970s, Daniell became involved in activities that encouraged the appreciation of writers and writing. During 1971–72, she served as Director of Poetry in the Schools, a joint program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Georgia State Council for the Arts, a national program that allowed students to work with published poets. During that time, she initiated and led a number of writing workshops in various locations, including the Georgia Correctional Institute for Women, and the Wyoming Women's Centre in Lusk, Wyoming.
In 1981, Daniell founded a creative writing workshop for women in Savannah. Two years later she named the workshop Zona Rosa. She led groups all over the country and in France, Italy and Ireland, and to date, over 300 Zona Rosans have become published authors.The workshops, which she still teaches, have been a critical part of her writing career. This series of life-changing workshops have been People and Southern Living and have been attended by thousands of women, and some men, including Pat Conroy, a frequent visitor, and John Berendt would drop by for feedback on the latest chapter of what became Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, his record-breaking bestseller about a notorious murder. Daniell's book Secrets of the Zona Rosa: How Writing (and Sisterhood) Can Change Women's Lives, was published by Henry Holt and Company in 2006.
Publications
Poetry A Sexual Tour of the Deep South (Push Button Publishing, 1994; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975). The Feathered Trees (a chapbook; Sweetwater Press; 1976). Fort Bragg & Other Points South (Henry Holt and Company, 1988). The Murderous Sky: Poems of Madness & Mercy, (Lavender Ink Press, 2021).
Nonfiction Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex & Suicide in the Deep South (memoir; Hill Street Press, 1999; Henry Holt and Company, 1989; Avon Books, 1981; Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1980). Sleeping with Soldiers (memoir; Hill Street Press, Warner Books, 1986; Granada, England, 1986; Edizioni Frassinelli, Italy, 1986; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985). It was also a part of the Book of the Month Club Collection of Erotic Classics. The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself: Writing & Living the Zona Rosa Way, (Faber & Faber, 1997; paper, 1998). Confessions of a (Female) Chauvinist (essays; Hill Street Press, 2001). Secrets of the Zona Rosa: How Writing (and Sisterhood) Can Change Women's Lives, (Henry Holt and Company, 2006).
Fiction
The Hurricane Season, (William Morrow & Company, 1992).
Literary and small press – Poetry The Atlantic Monthly: "Bridal Luncheon;" Volume 214, No. 2; August 1964. Poetry Northwest: "Black Animals," "Green Frogs," and "Ducks;" Volume V, Number 5; Spring, 1964. Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review:" "The Mountain Was My Father;" Summer, 1965. Poem: "The Feathered Trees," "The Birthday," "In the Waiting Room of a Mental Hospital," and "The Wild Birds;" No. 3-4, November 1968. "The Brown Slopes of Innocence," No. 1, November 1967. The Virginia Quarterly Review: "The Creek;" Volume 43, Number l; Winter, 1967. The Great Speckled Bird: "The Doll;" October 11, 1970. Also, "The Distant War" and "How to Make Your Own Napalm;" May 5, 1969. Also, "A French Kiss for Inez Garcia." South and West: "Garden Club Meeting;" Volume 9, No. l; Summer, 1970. "Coffee Break" and "Tea Party;" Volume 7, No. 4; Spring, 1969. TriQuarterly: "Tiger Lilies;" Number Fifteen; Spring, 1969. Descant: "Roman Forms in America" and "The Swimmer;" Volume Thirteen, Number Four; Summer, 1969. The Literary Review: "Facing Eros" and "Jack and I in Georgia: 1945;" Summer, 1969. The Dekalb Literary Arts Journal: "April in Georgia, 1971;"1972. "Georgia Road" and "The Quickening;" Volume 1, Number l; Fall, 1966. Archon: Literary Art Magazine of Emory University:" "Tulips;" Spring, 1971. The New Orleans Review: "A Week in February," "Shiksa," and "Declaration Day;" Volume 4, No. 4, 1975. "The State of Georgia" and "Talking of Stars;" Volume 4, No. 3; 1974. "The Angel Stud." Volume 3, No. 2; 1973. "Over Chattanooga," Volume 3, No. 4; 1973. "The Bible Salesman;" Volume 3, No. 1; 1972. The New York Quarterly: "I Want;" Number 16, 1974. "What's Happening;" Number 13, Winter, 1973. The Drunken Boat: "Oh, Men!" Number 1, 1973. The Georgia State University Review, 1977-78: "Blood Brother." Negative Capability: "Valentine's Day, 1982;" Volume VII, Numbers I & II, 1987. "Sewing;" Volume II, Number IV, Fall, 1982. Paintbrush: "The Color of Halcyon Days" and "Yellow Birds;" Volume X, Nos. 19 & 20, Spring & Autumn, 1983. The Chattahoochee Review: "The Power of Love" and "Accommodations;" Volume XVII - Number 3, Spring, 1997. "Sex in Savannah" and "A Lisp for Myth Amerika;" Volume V - Number 4, Summer, 1985. "A Pile of Chopped Pine Logs" and "Of Money and Class, and the Plight of the Working Man;" Volume V - Number 3, Spring, 1985. The American Voice: "Values, or the Christ of the White Shag Carpet," No. 40, Summer, 1996; "Chocolate Eclairs," No. 33, Summer, 1994; "Fort Bragg," No. 5, Winter, 1986. "Loss of the Soul & Other Sicknesses;" No. 3, Summer, 1986. Arrival: "Craving Hollywood;" Summer, 1987. Explicit Lyrics: "Portrait: Boy with Dog;" Number One, 1999. Caprice: "The Cowgirl Tells Her Daughter about Life," "The Elephant Maiden," Fall, 1996; "The Chef;" March 1990. Kalliope: "Southern Suttee, or What Grandmother Knew," Winter, 2001; "Death of the Drum Fish," "Intimate Terrorists" (nominated for Pushcart Prize); Fall, 1996. Arts & Letters: "What Keith the Hunter Says About the Deer in the Hills" and "For Jesus, Eyes Blazing;" Spring, 2002. Web Del Sol, an online chapbook of selected poems, 2002 The Copenhagen Review: "Rooms, or the Comfort of Enclosed Spaces," "One-Eyed Jack," "Miracles Are Like That;" No. Three, 2008. The Double Dealer: "Sacred Things," 2009. Minerva Rising: "When I Had Balls for a Day," 2016.
Literary and small press – prose Teachers & Writers Collaborative: "My High School English Teacher," January–February, 1986. Helicon Nine: "A Piece of White Satin" (short story); Number 17/18, 1987. Habersham Review: "Of Cudden Lily Rising" (short story); Volume I, Number 2; Spring, 1992.
Literary and small press publications – other
Editor: Dracula and Other Poems, An Anthology of Poems by Students in Georgia Schools. Also: Joy to the Word!, a pamphlet describing her experiences as poet in residence in Georgia schools; printed by the Georgia Council for the Arts; 1973. Paintbrush: Interview with Rosemary Daniell; Volume III, Number 5; Spring 1976. Negative Capability: Interview with Rosemary Daniell, Volume III, Number IV; Fall 1983. Habersham Review: Interview with Rosemary Daniell, Volume I, Number 2; Spring, 1992. Kalliope: Interview with Rosemary Daniell; Fall, Number 3, 1996. The Chattahoochee Review: Interview with Rosemary Daniell; Volume XVII - Number 3, Spring, 1997.
Anthologies We Become New: Poems by Contemporary American Women: "Girl Friends," "Before the Fall," "To a Family Man in His Family Room," and "I Want"(poems); Bantam Press, 1976. Sojourner: "Girl Friends" (a poem); Interart Center, New York City; 1976. Cafe at Saint Marks: The Apalachee Poets: "Liturgy" (a poem); The Apalachee Poetry Center, Tallahassee, Florida; 1976. White Trash: "The Operation" and "A Week in February" (poems); The New South Company, 1976. The Callanwolde Poets: "The Brown Slopes of Innocence" The Tinhorn Press; 1976. Southern Poetry: The Seventies: "Of Jayne Mansfield, Flannery O'Connor, My Mother & Me;" University of North Carolina Press, 1977. Finished Product: An Anthology of Atlanta Poets: "Of Jayne Mansfield, Flannery O'Connor, My Mother & Me;" The Poetry Factory, 1978. Contemporary Southern Poetry: "Of Jayne Mansfield, Flannery O'Connor, My Mother & Me" (a poem); University of Louisiana Press, 1980. Woman Poet: The South: "A Kiss for Inez Garcia" (a poem); Women-in-Literature, Inc., 1989. Lips Unsealed: Confidences from Contemporary Women Writers: "Stains on a Piece of White Satin" (fiction) and "In Search of the Macho Man" (memoir); Capra Press, 1990. Touching Fire: A Collection of Erotic Writing by Women: "Talking of Stars" (a poem); Crossing Press, 1990. Georgia Voices: Fiction Edited by Hugh Ruppersburge; University of Georgia Press, 1992. The Time of Our Lives: "Sleeping With Soldiers" (an excerpt); The Crossing Press, 1993. Literary Savannah, edited by Patrick Allen and published by Hill Street Press, 1998. Georgia Voices: Poetry Edited by Hugh Ruppersburge; University of Georgia Press, 2000. How I Learned to Cook: Edited by Margot Perin; Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2004.