Oversight: Erasure Poetry by Carina Bissett and Lee Murray
Running Wild Press (March 8, 2026)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent
Poetry is a difficult beast. We authors often say that it’s harder to write a great short story than a good novel. If that’s true, great poetry is more difficult by far. Not only does condensation of theme and economy of language winnow to the level of a single word, but the limits of theme and the necessity of rhythm further force the writer’s hand. Good poetry is hard. Great poetry is a life’s work.
So it was with both awe and appreciation that I read Oversight: Erasure Poetry by Carissa Bissett and Lee Murray (Running Wild Press, March 8, 2026 — International Women’s Day). Talk about constriction of form — erasure poetry is akin to blackout poetry; both erase or drop words from an existing text, thereby creating a new poem and finding new meaning in the material. In Oversight, Bissett and Murray employ the technique thematically to discuss the erasure of women throughout history.
Erasure poetry that talks about women’s erasure. It’s not only thematically appropriate, it’s a brilliant concept, and Oversight lives up to its premise. In this sixty-poem volume, Bissett and Murray take turns distilling the words of women who contributed to or fought for women’s rights — famous ones, including Margaret Sanger, Phyllis Wheatley, Zora Neale Hurston, Calamity Jane, Sappho; and women I didn’t know, like Janet Frame, Huda Sha’arawi, and Julia Balbilla.
The book is divided into sections: Storyteller, Observer, Philosopher, Revolutionary, Recusant, Visionary, Explorer, and Feminist. Each section contains seven or eight erasure poems, each of which uses a text from the titled speaker; each poem is followed by a brief biography of the woman and an explanation of the text used. A stunning concept in which Bissett and Murray distill the texts down to a single reading, discovering kernels of essential truth about both writing and speaker.
Nice technique, killer premise, and the writing rises to the occasion. While Bissett and Murray share authorship, their poems are attributed, creating a blend of styles which compliment and elevate both. I love Murray’s work because she tends to formal styles, with a strong grasp of rhythm and thematics. I had never read Bissett before, and I was happy to find a new poet to follow, one who shares Murray’s strong thematics and careful word choice. While she tends more toward the freeform than her co-author, Bissett’s poetry rings with careful language and eloquent phrasing. Alone, they’re two poets to watch; together, they’ve created a book that carries a macrolevel of rhythm, rhythm, and theme.
The sections are each prefaced with a crossword puzzle whose answers are the women contained in the subsequent pages. A lovely way to include the author in the book’s creation, as well as demand that they summon their knowledge — and learn where their knowledge gaps lie. The puzzles also illuminate connections between each woman.
Oversight: Erasure Poetry is a joyous artistic shout, a miraculous work of feminism and discovered poetry. Those who skip forewords and afterwords be warned: These sections are as strong as the poetry, and the biographical sketches never fail to illuminate and surprise. This book merges art and education, feminism and poetry.
This is a book that meets our current moment. In a world attempting to erase women, to send us back to the home and roll back our rights, Oversight sings. Our words are important. Our words are valuable. Bissett and Murray prove it here. Timely, beautiful, and much-needed.
