Book Circle – Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadwi, Wednesday 6th April 5.30pm
Our new Book Circle got off to a great start earlier this month with our first book choice, The Family Tree, by Sairish Hussain. Thanks to those who came along, and for your thoughtful comments and questions. It was lovely to see so many of you there. Our discussion touched on the appeal of family sagas, to what it is about a novel that draws the reader in, to techniques used by authors to forge connections between reader and characters. Huge thanks to author, Sairish Hussain, for joining us mid-way and answering our volley of questions with grace and good humour.
I hope you will join us for our next meeting which will take place in April 6th, 5.30-6.30 GMT, when we will discuss Woman at Point Zeroto honour Egyptian author, Nawal El Saadawi, who died in March 2021. The Zoom link is: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/book-circle-tickets-309828113227
If any CWWA or PGCWWA members have done any scholarship on El Saadawi and would like to introduce the author and her work at the start of our meeting, please contact me (Paula).
It would be great to share the discussion with a wider audience, so if anyone would like to volunteer to live-tweet the event, again, please contact me at paula.mcgrath@ucd.ie
Book Circle launch with author Sairish Hussain, Wednesday 12th January 5.30pm
Book Circle is the new incarnation of the CWWA book club. Our mission is simple: to celebrate women’s writing from 1970 to the present. We’ll meet online a few times a year to chat about the chosen book. At the end of each meeting, you will be invited to submit your suggestions for the next one.
Our first meeting under the new name will take place online on Wednesday 12 January at 5:30pm (British time), Eventbrite registration below.
Our first book choice will be the wonderful, multi-generational saga and 2020 Costa First Novel shortlisted, The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain. We are delighted to announce that author Sairish will be joining us mid-way through our meeting, so get your questions ready.
We’ll be reading The Family Tree together over the next few weeks, so pick up a copy from your local bookshop or library and get reading! We would love to hear your thoughts as you read, so please do join in the conversation on Twitter, using the hashtags #BookCircle #TheFamilyTree
To register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cwwa-book-circle-the-family-tree-tickets-212407736257
CFP: Contemporary Women Writing Race: Textual Interventions and Intersections Symposium
Friday 10th September 2021, online (Zoom), time tbc
The CFP is now closed. Full details of the programme will be released shortly.
Contemporary women writers have long been at the forefront of diverse conversations regarding race, society, and culture. From the works of legendary greats, such as Maya Angelou, Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Nawal Ed Saadawi, to the vibrant writing of Octavia Butler, Bernardine Evaristo, and Jenny Zhang, to name just a few, contemporary women authors have elucidated the wide and varied experiences of race across time, genre, and forms. Such work also frequently attends, in nuanced ways, to the lived experience and dynamics of intersectionality.
Following the success of last year’s CWWA workshop ‘Literature Must Fall’ and associated projects (such as the funded ‘Women Writing Pakistan’ initiative), the CWWA wishes to continue the dialogue on the importance of literary and non-literary work devoted to race and racial (in)equality produced by contemporary women writers. How are contemporary women writers providing textual interventions in social and cultural discourses on race, inequality, and the dismantling of racist behaviours, practices, and institutions?
We invite the submission of abstracts for 15-minute papers on any aspect of contemporary women’s writing and race. Topics may include, but are by no means limited to:
- The representation of race, racial politics, and experience in works by contemporary women writers
- Contemporary women’s writing, race, form, and genre(s)
- Contemporary women’s writing and anti-racism
- Intersectionality, including, for example, race and gender, class, religion, disability, sexuality, aging, the body
- Contemporary women’s writing and political activism
- Contemporary women’s writing, race, and intertextuality
The submission of abstracts is open to all scholars and it is our hope that we can provide a particular showcase for postgraduate and early career scholars. The event will be free, and bookings will open via Eventbrite shortly.
Please email abstracts of no more than 300 words to Claire O’Callaghan and Shareena Hamzah-Osbourne at C.OCallaghan@lboro.ac.uk & zarina.hamzah@swansea.ac.uk by the end of Wednesday 30th June 2021.
Contemporary Women's Writing Association 