Capturing Katha: Discovering the Famous Feminist Writer

by Amy Austin

for Literary Nonfiction, ETSU Fall 2004

Wading through the insult filled banters of her articles, I finally feel that I have come to a somewhat clear understanding of Katha Pollitt. Having read three dozen or so of her articles and bios from various publications, it’s fair to say that her writing style and vocabulary choice definitely make her pieces unique. The quick readings paired with often the often humorous insults that she seems to slip into the paragraphs make her work a delight to read, even if you don’t agree with her.

Katha is a very well established left wing writer. Currently she writes a column, and is a co editor for The Nation. This bi-weekly article is titled “ Subject for Debate”. Pollitt has been with The Nation since 1982 and her columns have covers a wider range of topics. It is, however, obvious that she seems to stick to a few controversial topics: war, abortion, religion, politics.

Pollitt was born and raised in New York City. She studied at Radcliffe College, Harvard, and the Columbia School of Art. She taught poetry at the collegiate level at Bernard, and liberal studies at the New School. (www.thenation.com) She has three published books of her own but has been published in countless anthologies. Her first book is a collection of poetry, the other two are collections of her essays. Katha has one daughter. She lives with her and four cats in New York City. She was married, for a brief time. After her marriage she lived with a man named Paul Mattik but he betrayed her. She now dates a man who resides in London. (Pollitt, “Learning to Drive”)

Pollit supports so many organizations that it questionable wether she finds time to sleep. It is not only that she is affiliated with so many organizations but that they range from political to religious.. Just to name a few :

- Katha is represented by Soap Box Inc. This organization started by two women, seem to set up venues for the women that they represent to speak, ( or, if you wanted Katha Pollit to speak at your event, these would be the ladies to talk to), (www.soapbox.com).

-Katha was very active in the past election. It is however had to tell who side she was on In most of the articles that I read she seemed to be pulling for Kerry , but the she insulted and criticized both runners.

-Katha is a member of The Freedom From Religion Foundation. Katha has very strong

views on religion. She claimed this to be her favorite organization to be a part of, ( in her acceptance speech last year of a highly coveted award from this organization). Katha as an athiest. (Www.Freedomfromreligionfoundation.com) Is it ironic to anyone else but me that Katha Pollit, who has such strong beliefs on everything, is an atheist?

- Katha is a member of History in Action. This is a feminist group of women that range from 20 to 75. They struggle for abortion writes. (Pollitt, www.lipmagazine.com) They are supposed to be a very active group but the way Pollitt talks, they haven’t been to active lately.

There are so many more organizations and groups that Pollitt supports. It is almost humerus the was that she slide them into her articles a few at a time. Pollitt seems to always be fighting for a cause. She is definitely a busy lady.

Although Katha Pollit has written a book of poetry that received critical acclaim, it is her essays that have brought her fame. It seems like there is a Pollitt essay everywhere you turn. There are awards after awards for her essays, and after reading the lot of them, it was obvious that she deserved them. I just couldn’t help wondering, what made her essay’s so special. There is of course, the possibility that I am just young and nieve, but after reading 60 or so article, by Ms. Pollitt, the reoccurring though in my head was “ is it really that bad?”. Is life really so anti -women and we don’t realize it? or is most of it in her head? or rather do most women not care enough to carry on about it in the manner that she does? And furthermore, is this what makes her writing so unique, that she writes about controversial topics? ( Not to take away from her pieces. There is really no doubt that they are powerful and well written)

Most of her essay’s follow the same lay out. The first couple of paragraphs are about the topic at hand, but then somewhere along the line she slips the relationships to what she wants to argue about into the piece, even if it seems like it doesn’t fit. I often found myself referring to the beginning of the essay to remember what it was about. I must commend her on her masterful skill of finding the anti- women sentiment in every aspect of life. By the end of my reading session with her I found myself believing it as well, and for the remainder of the day seemed to be living in a wold against me.

Her essays are powerful. They often seem pessimistic However the are very smart and often funny. Her argumentative style grasps the reader’s attention. Her dry sarcasm paired with strong but well thought out ideas make it seem that she sees things so clearly and everyone is just small minded and ignorant. Her style and way with word is magical as it makes one somewhat believe, even if it’s just for a moment, what she believes. She has such strong conflicting views of most of America, but that is what makes her so interesting. She’s the other side, and everyone likes a good argument.

“ It is not who says it, it’s who hears it, and what gets done with what they hear”(6) . Katha said the in an interview. I think this sums up what makes Katha’s work so special, what makes her so famous. It is why people rush out to buy the Nation. Sometimes it seems that Katha’s views are so left wing that she may be the only person who feels that strongly about them. However, in her essay’s she isn’t asking the reader to take it all in, the way she does. It’s like a Paris fashion show. You see them on tv and you think,” no one would really wear all that”. But then you take little subtleties, from the outfits and wear them your own way. You don’t attempt to wear the whole outfit, but it does make enough of an impression on you to try something new. This is how Katha’s essay’s work. She presents an idea to the reader, that may seem ridiculous , but with her well supportive argument and clever humor, the reader is opens their minds, at least enough to let Katha’s view be an option, where it wasn’t before. They may not be giant leaps to the left . But a baby step, is still a step.

“Bees at their balm, the dragonfly

asleep on a raspberry leaf-

that’s how we’d be live

if living was enough”

These are a few lines take from a poem in Katha’s first book Antarctic Traveler. Living is not enough for Katha. She wants to be a legacy. She wants to make a difference. She is never satisfied, in her own life or with the world. It seems that when she finally gets her way with one topic she quickly moves to the next. There is always something, in that Katha’s eyes, that can be changed for the better. Katha knows that it’s not enough simply to live, that nothing will ever be good enough. I commend her however, on her choice to keep working and trying to make a difference even though she knows it will never be enough to satisfy her.

In my time with Katha, I learned so much about not only her, but myself. However controversial she may seem, she is what women want to be. She is strong and independent. She is a loving mother, who works very hard for her daughter. She makes mistakes and at the end of the day, she wants to try again tomorrow. She never gives up on what she believes in. Yes her essays are powerful but what makes them so special is that she truely believes in what she writes, so it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Katha is a busy lady with a lot on her mind. I look forward now to reading her extreme left wing views on the world.