Women’s Words
A series of programs featuring literature by women.
The Women’s Words series kicks off with a lecture by Lynn Rosen: “Women’s Words: Feminist Literary Highlights from the 18th Century to Today.” This talk will start with a look at our very first women authors and novelists and move through important works over the centuries. You’ll find familiar names as well as hopefully some news ones, from Mary Wollstonecraft to Virginia Woolf to Gloria Steinem to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
After the kick-off lecture, there will be three separate book discussion classes, each examining an important work of feminist fiction. For these classes, participants will be asked to read the work ahead of time to participate in class discussion.
Womens’ Words Lecture
DATE: Tuesday, June 9th
TIME: 7pm – 8:30pm
Who are our feminist literary foremothers? You may be surprised to know that their work dates back as far as the 11th century, and that even in eras dominated by male writers, they were busily “scribbling” out important works of literature. This lecture is an overview of some significant feminist literature over the past centuries.
Sign up HERE
CLASS #1
DATE: Wednesday, May 27
TIME: 7pm – 8:30pm
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle between her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood and the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South. We’ll examine this imporant work and also look at several other contemporary 19th century American women writers: Margaret Fuller, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and E.D.E.N. Southworth.
Participants will need to read The Awakening for this class.
Sign up HERE
CLASS #2
DATE: Monday, June 15
TIME: 7pm – 8:30pm
Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth was published in 1905 and tells the story of Lily Bart, a well-born but impoverished woman belonging to New York City’s high society. Lily’s plight still rings fresh today, and we’ll discuss this classic novel, and also examine new evidence that sheds light on the author’s intentions for Lily.
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CLASS #3
DATE: Tuesday, July 7
TIME: 7pm – 8:30pm
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, published in 1925, is a great book to return to as a reader of Woolf, and a perfect way to begin if you haven’t yet read Woolf. Either way, the story and the beauty of the language have not lessened in impact in the nearly 100 years since the book’s publication.
Sign up HERE
COST:
Per class: $30
Sign up for the series: $110
Sign up HERE
