Why Weren’t Any Women there?

For Immediate Release November 2, 2009


Why Weren’t Any Women Invited To Publishers Weekly’s Weenie Roast?

Publishers Weekly recently announced their Best Books Of 2009 list.
Of their top ten, chosen by editorial staff, no books written by women
were included. Quoted in The Huffington Post, PW confidently admitted
that they're “not the most politically correct" choices. This
statement comes in a year in which new books appeared by writers such
as Lorrie Moore, Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, Rita
Dove, Heather McHugh and Alicia Ostriker.

“The absence made me nearly speechless.” said writer Cate Marvin,
cofounder of the newly launched national literary organization WILLA
(Women In Letters And Literary Arts), which, since August, has
attracted close to 5400 members on their Facebook web page, including
many major and emerging women writers. “It continues to surprise me
that literary editors are so comfortable with their bias toward male
writing, despite the great and obvious contributions that women
authors make to our contemporary literary culture.”

WILLA’s other cofounder, Erin Belieu, Director Of The Creative Writing
Program at Florida State University, asked, “So is the flipside here
that including women authors on the list would just have been an
empty, politically correct gesture? When PW’s editors tell us they’re
not worried about ‘political correctness,’ that’s code for ‘your
concerns as a feminist aren’t legitimate.’ They know they’re being
blatantly sexist, but it looks like they feel good about that. I, on
the other hand, have heard from a whole lot of people—writers and
readers--who don’t feel good about it at all.”

PW also did a Top 100 list and, of the authors included, only 29 were
women. The WILLA Advisory Board is in the process of putting together
a list titled “Great Books Published By Women In 2009.” This will be
posted to the organization’s Facebook page and website. A WILLA Wiki
has also been started for people to share their nominations for Great
Books By Women in 2009. Press release to follow.

WILLA was founded to bring increased attention to women’s literary
accomplishments and to question the American literary establishment’s
historical slow-footedness in recognizing and rewarding women writer’s
achievements. WILLA is about to launch their website and is in the
process of planning their first national conference to be held next
year.

(Note: until recently, WILLA went under the acronym WILA, with one
“L.” If you’re interested in the organization, please Google WILA with
one “L” to see background on how this group was originally formed.)

should poetry be allowed to make money????

what does this actually say? I get more of a pro- join our troops sort of feeling...vs wearing levis... well, a join our troops in a very open happy hippie cool loving way! Is that possible???

Phillip Jenks talks feminism on our Delirious Lapel!

Dusie finally! has a badge... now I feel somehow responsible, like maybe I should post more, ummm like actually start posting again!

yes, this is big news...
and Dusie will,


Something this tantamount has not yet occurred to Dusie since the blogs inception, and of late I have been inspired by others who have also made the list, and higher than Dusie's ranking no less, the Pussipo-sita's in way of DHem! which Dusie will be curating the Advent Kalendar again for 2009, check out 2008

I have also really been enjoying Anne Boyer's new literary blog, Books of Poetry which has inspired me to actually start doing more close reads, regularly of what I have been reading, and so should you!
hehehe

THE CONTORTIONS