Quines, a rib and a story shortlist

There was a great Reunion programme on BBC Radio4 last Sunday when Sue MacGregor brought together five of the women who created Spare Rib. Among them were editors Marsha Rowe and Rosie Boycott, and Anna Raeburn who wrote the advice column. 

Did you know that in the 1970s when Spare Rib was launched a woman still needed her husband or father's permission to get a mortgage, women were barred from visiting Wimpy bars after midnight (on the assumption they must be prostitutes) and at the BBC female employees were strongly discouraged from wearing trousers?Click here for the podcast.
 
There have been plans to relaunch Spare Rib and it seems there’s a chance that 90’s Scottish feminist magazine Harpies & Quines could resurface too. Click here for further details.

Lynne, who organizes Words & Women, was one of the founding Directors of Harpies & Quines and has been interviewed by The Glasgow Women’s Library about her work on the magazine. The Glasgow Women’s Library is a wonderful resource – is there anything like it in the East of England? - and has back-copies of Spare Rib and Harpies.  For a link to the library, click here.

Finally Words And Women would like to congratulate the five women writers who are on the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award 2013.  These are Lisa Bower, Lavina Greenlaw who is Professor of Poetry at UEA in Norwich, Sarah Hall who lives in Norwich, Lionel Shriver and Lucy Wood. Their stories are currently being broadcast daily on BBC Radio 4 at 3.30pm. Click here for more info.