Bates among speakers as Feminist Book Fortnight returns

Laura Bates is to feature at Feminist Book Fortnight, a celebration of feminist writing, which returns next week after a break of two years owing to the pandemic. 

Feminist Book Fortnight initially ran from 1984 to 1991, evolving from the flourishing women’s movements of the time. In 2018, a group of radical and independent bookshops around the UK and Ireland launched Feminist Book Fortnight, a celebration of feminist books with Jane Anger from Five Leaves Bookshop, co-ordinating the fortnight. In 2019, 50 bookshops and three libraries took part in the event.

Bates, author and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, will be speaking at The Feminist Bookshop in Brighton on 17th May following a Virago Speakeasy on motherhood.

Independent bookshops across the UK will be celebrating with displays of feminist books and holding events with their authors and readers. The Bookery in Crediton, near Exeter, is hosting an event titled ‘Rebellious Sounds: exploring 100 years of women’s activism in the South West’.

Kemps bookshop in Maldon will be hosting a talk by Sarah Lonsdale on her book Rebel Women Between the Wars (Manchester University Press), while in Edinburgh, Lighthouse Bookshop will be launching Joanna Walsh’s Girl Online (Verso). Pen’rallt Gallery Bookshop in Machynlleth, Wales, will host a performance of a new book of Welsh poetry by Menna Elfyn. 

Feminist Book Fortnight: A Short History has been written by former Sussex University research fellow Dr Eleanor Careless, supported by Professor Margaretta Jolly as part of the Leverhulme-funded publishing project "The Business of Women’s Words: Purpose and Profit in Feminist Publishing".

The new history weaves together oral histories from feminist booksellers and activists, original archival findings, and the nationwide network of Feminist Book Fortnight events.

Jolly, professor of cultural studies in the School of Media, Arts and Humanities at the University of Sussex, said: “It is wonderful to see the return of this celebration of all things feminist, womanist and bookish. It’s equally wonderful to learn more about the history of Feminist Book Fortnight.”