Aemilia Bassano Lanyer sought public fame as a poet in 1611, at the height of the largely misogynistic reign of James I. This book situates her life and work among those major poets of Elizabethan and Jacobean England with whom she may have had some contact, such as Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, and Donne, and who represent the context for her own unique voice.

Specialists in Lanyer should not be the only ones to greet Woods's latest book with enthusiasm, however. Students and teachers who have struggled to see recently recovered authors such as Lanyer in the context of a traditional canon will find this a most helpful resource. Likewise, those whose interest in literature by women has led them back in time to periods with which they are not entirely familiar will find this an excellent study, as it combines meticulous scholarship and close reading to situate Lanyer thematically and stylistically in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

"Woods provides not only a superb introduction to the life and art of the recently rediscovered English poet Aemilia Bassano Lanyer (1569-1645), but also an excellent general background of life at court in Lanyer's time....Informed and well considered, this title is not only the best single work on a neglected poet; thanks to the great depth of her research and her understanding of the period, Woods gives readers insight into an entire age. Highly recommended for all college and university libraries."--Choice "Specialists in Lanyer should not be the only ones to greet Woods's latest book with enthusiasm...Students and teachers...will find this a most helpful resource. Likewise, those whose interest in literature by women has led them back in time to periods with which they are not entirely familiar will find this an excellent study, as it combines meticulous scholarship and close readings to situate Lanyer thematically and stylistically in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries."--Christianity and Literature "In Lanyer, the poet...is treated to full, reliable, wholly professional and often very instructive critical examination. Even those with no feminist interests will benefit from such widely applicable analyses such as that in which we see the problems of iconography long established in a Catholic context revised for Reformation use."--Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance "Woods has been a pioneer of Lanyer scholarship alongside Lewalski, and this study of Lanyer will further enliven the ongoing debate about Lanyer, the canon, and the merits of various approaches to literature, particularly literature by women. [Her] approach is thoughtful and creative, and it opens up Lanyer's poems in many ways that enrich our understanding of them. [Lanyer] must be of interest to all students of early modern literature and culture."--Journal of English and Germanic Philology