‘While there is plenty of media coverage of feminists’ work today, there is something to be said about these books being an integral part of literature festivals. Sadly, it has traditionally been hard to find many feminist-specific festivals dedicated to delving into feminist literature, which is why one Australian festival has decided it is high time to change this.’ In this terrific article, UK site GirlTalkHQ takes a close look at the FWF and the conditions that led to its creation.
FWF Steering Committee member Veronica Sullivan spoke to Triple R’s Multi-Storied program this week about the festival, including her top events to watch out for. Listen to the interview here.
Linda Burney made history on the weekend, becoming the first Indigenous woman to to ever win a place in the House of Representatives. She talks to Women’s Agenda about her next steps, which will include advocating for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians, and addressing issues facing Aboriginal women, such as unacceptable rates of hospitalisation, homicide and incarceration.
‘Ignoring the belching whines of online trolls and man-babies has become somewhat of a pastime of mine. It amuses me to see them rant and rave at the apparently pro-active role I take in oppressing them. Their conviction I’m devoting vast amounts of energy to destroying their lives is doubly funny given I’ve never actively pursued any interaction with them at all.’ Clementine Ford is undoubtedly one of Australia’s most popular and prolific feminist writers. She shares her experiences with sexist online trolls in this piece for the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre.
With the US facing the possibility of its first female president, sexist attitudes are unfortunately out in full force. Amy Gray looks at the sexist abuse thrown at Hillary Clinton during her primaries campaign, and the double standards to which female politicians are so often held while their male counterparts maintain power. While women in politics must walk a fine line between likeability and competence, they are berated for ‘playing the gender card’ when they call out sexism.
We Run With Wolves (WRWW) is an inclusive, brave platform for high calibre female poets from diverse ethnicities and those that identify as queer or trans. Their upcoming event at Melbourne’s Toff in Town will help to uncover common ground and find strength in lived experiences. Poetry and storytelling will be used as a means to educate, inspire and build solidarity across lines of difference, as Melbourne’s fiercest female bravehearts join forces to share the transformational power of poetry. Melbourne, Wednesday 13 July.
Murder in the Library – Join this discussion on the important role played by Australian women as writers of detective fiction. The talk will cover Mary Fortune, who in 1871 wrote Australia’s first book of detective fiction, and June Wright, who wrote eight crime novels between 1948-1966, setting many in iconic Melbourne locations. Award-winning crime author Emma Viskic will read extracts from her novel Resurrection Bay. Melbourne, Tuesday 19 July.
Australian novelist Mireille Juchau has achieved huge critical acclaim this year, with her latest book, The World Without Us, being shortlisted for the Stella Prize and winning the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. At the August edition of the Wheeler Centre’s Books and Ideas at Montalto, hear Juchau chat with Michael Williams about writing the intimate and the political in this highly acclaimed novel, in a beautiful Mornington Peninsula setting with food and wine. Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Friday 19 August.
Feminist Writers Festival 
Best quote ever to me from a guy: “I would read feminist literature with you.”