Feisty, bawdy, erotic, and irreverent, The Virago Book of Wicked Verse is a telling commentary on women's ability to transform poetry into a medium of subversiveness. There are jibes at hypocrisy and prejudice, sexiness and sauciness, and a riotous overturning of the "Lady Poet" image. With poets spanning continents and centuries, this anthology abundantly demonstrates the ways in which women can be "wicked," and willfully so. Among the list of contributors are Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Emily Dickinson, Carol Ann Duffy, Suniti Namjoshi, Grace Nichols, Dorothy Parker, Izumi Shikibu, and Stevie Smith.