March is
all about female empowerment and appreciation: it’s Women’s History Month,
International Women’s Day on 8th and Mothering Sunday on 11th.
To help you celebrate, we’ve compiled our pick of literary events to discover
new stories of inspirational women, to discuss the importance of equality, and
to enjoy the fantastic literature written by the female hand.
Artificial
Intelligence has entered every corner of our lives and has no intentions of
slowing down anytime soon. But what happens when this new technology is
advancing with an inbuilt sexist bias?... Find out from three brilliant
speakers – leaders in their field – about how gender relates to this new wave
of technology. A great #WomeninSTEM event!
In response
to the global #MeToo movement, which gives a voice to women subject to sexual harassment,
celebrate the launch of this specially curated poetry anthology. Poets Deborah
Alma, Jill Abram, Michelle Penn and Jacqueline Saphra come to together for an
evening of readings, responses and empowerment, at the launch of this important
anthology, from which all proceeds will go to Women’s Aid UK.
Part of the
Southbank Centre’s Women of the World festival, this event will explore today’s
most
urgent and
important cultural issues. Bestselling and iconic authors, Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie (Half of a Yellow Sun and We Should All Be Feminists) and Reni
Eddo-Lodge (Why I’m No Longer Talking to
White People About Race) talk about the interplay between gender, feminism
and race at what is sure to be an enlightening evening.
You can
find the whole Women of the World (WOW) Festival catalogue here.
In 1936
successful Vogue editor Marjorie Hillis published a radical self-help book for
young single women, Live Alone and Like
It. It took New York, and beyond, by storm, and encouraged a new wave of
successful independent young women to proudly live independently. Revisit Hillis’
fascinating life story with Joanna Scutts, as she discusses her new book, The Extra Woman: How Marjorie Hillis Led a
Generation of Women to Live Alone and Like It.
Can’t make
this date? You can also see Joanna on 15th March at Waterstones Gower Street
Join
leading human rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti and author Rachel Holmes in conversation
about gender equality, past and present. They will look at how far we have come
since women won the vote in the UK 100 years ago, and how far we still
need to go. Shami’s recent book, Of Women,
is a powerful and timely polemic of why gender equality is still an urgent
issue and how we can see it through.
Revel in
the pleasure of eating, the joy of food, and banish the guilt! Join Great
British Bake Off finalist and author, Ruby Tandoh, and writer and podcaster,
Bethany Rutter, as they claim ownership and autonomy of the female body, free
from the judgemental gaze of social media, and show that there is no shame in
not fitting conventional beauty ideals. If that doesn’t convince you, tickets
also include a complimentary glass of wine, just to prove that you can spoil
yourself!
Rupi Kaur is the hottest new name on the poetry scene and her
second collection, the sun and her
flowers, has continued her bestselling status. Her verses on love, sex and
race have attracted a wide audience and encouraged many young readers to
explore poetry for the first time. In a rare UK tour, don’t miss a special
evening of performance poetry with Rupi and hear her empowering lyrical voice
for yourself.
Rupi is holding numerous events across the UK, find them all
here.
Books have
magic powers beyond fantastical stories and the ability to keep you up all
night… they can also heal – mind, body, and soul. Discover Laura Freeman’s
inspirational story of how she overcame an eating disorder as she discusses her
brave bibliomemoir, The Reading Cure.
Book by book and meal by meal, Laura relearnt to explore and enjoy food by
taking inspiration from the pages of her favourite authors – from Dickens’ plum
puddings to Virginia Woolf’s blackberries and biscuits.
