Poetic Coteries, Circles, and Networks

From Hester Pulter’s apparent isolation in rural Hertfordshire to the invisibility of Aphra Behn’s family connections, female poets’ participation in social networks has been obscured in the historical record. This entry explores women’s social and literary connections, investigating the ways in which female writers were imbricated in the coterie production of manuscripts, and how they were connected to broader circles and networks of patronage and literary production. Only by refusing exceptionalism—by rejecting the impulse to treat female poets, such as Katherine Philips, as isolated examples of women who transcended their gendered disadvantages—will we be able to redress the balance and fully appreciate the range of poetry produced by women in the early modern period. By considering women’s participation in systems of patronage and literary exchange, travel, epistolary communication, and domestic life, we can appreciate the ways in which women worked creatively together with male and female friends and family members, inspiring and promoting each other’s writing.