Today marks International Women’s Day, held on the 8th of March each year. This year’s theme #EmbraceEquity aims to get the world talking about why equal opportunities aren’t enough.

The Exact Editions’ International Women’s Day Reading List has been created in collaboration with 7 publishers who have recommended books that celebrate the achievements of women, raise awareness of discrimination, and promote taking action for equality.

Access the International Women’s Day Reading List here (this collection link to previews of each book will expire on the 8th of April).

Read On To Find Out More About Each Book Recommendation…

Granta

1) The Manningtree Witches by A. K. Blakemore

Plunges its readers into the fever and menace of the English witch trials, where suspicion, mistrust and betrayal ran amok as the power of men went unchecked and the integrity of women went undefended.

Glimpse inside the book here.

2) Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

Men Explain Things to Me has become a touchstone of the feminist movement, inspired the term ‘mansplaining’, and established Solnit as one of the leading feminist thinkers of our time.

Glimpse inside the book here.

Manchester University Press

1) Burning the Veil by Neil MacMaster

Draws upon sources from newly-opened archives, exploring the ‘emancipation’ of Muslim women from the veil, seclusion and perceived male oppression during the Algerian War of decolonisation.

Glimpse inside the book here.

2) Body Work by Melissa Febos

Drawing on her journey from aspiring writer to acclaimed author and writing professor — via addiction and recovery, sex work and academia — Melissa Febos has created a captivating guide to the writing life, and a brilliantly unusual exploration of subjectivity, privacy, and the power of divulgence.

Glimpse inside the book here.

3) Gee Vaucher by Rebecca Binns

This is the first book to critically assess an extensive range of Gee Vaucher’s (b. 1945) work. While Vaucher rejects all ‘isms’, her work offers a unique take on the history of feminist art.

Glimpse inside the book here.

Lund Humphries

1) Women Artists in the Reign of Catherine the Great by Rosalind P. Blakesley

The first ever account of women artists under Europe’s most resolute empress, Catherine the Great.

Glimpse inside the book here.

2) Fidelia Bridges by Katherine Manthorne

Provides the first comprehensive biography of Fidelia Bridges, a best-selling female artist in post-Civil War America.

Glimpse inside the book here.

3) Jacqueline Humphries by Frances Guerin

The first monograph on one of the world’s most interesting abstract painters working today.

Glimpse inside the book here.

Edinburgh University Press

1) British Muslim Women in the Cultural and Creative Industries by Saskia Warren

Presents an intimate portrait of how Muslim women are transforming media, culture and the arts in contemporary Britain.

Glimpse inside the book here.

2) Cécline Sciamma by Emma Wilson

Examines the work of film director Céline Sciamma, the most visible and important feminist, and lesbian, director in contemporary international filmmaking.

Glimpse inside the book here.

3) Martha Nussbaum and Politics by Brandon Robshaw

Introduces the wide-ranging thought of the liberal philosopher Martha Nussbaum and considers how it relates to contemporary political issues.

Glimpse inside the book here.

Renard Press

1) An Introduction to the History of Women’s Suffrage by Susan B. Anthony

The History of Woman Suffrage series eventually went on to fill 5700 pages and lend weight to a movement that changed the course of history for ever.

Glimpse inside the book here.

2) A Vindication of the Right’s of Women and a Vindication of the Right’s of Men by Mary Wollstonecraft, introduced by Bee Rowlatt

A Vindication of the Rights of Men and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman turned the tables on philosophy.

Glimpse inside the book here.

3) Women and Love by Miriam Burke

A thought-provoking collection of seventeen tightly woven tales about the power of love, all its trials and complications, and the shattered lives it can leave in its wake.

Glimpse inside the book here.

Practical Inspiration Publishing

1) Don’t Fix Women: The Practical Path to Gender Equality at Work by Joy Burnford

Reveals how achieving gender balance at work isn’t about ‘fixing’ the women, it’s about changing the system.

Glimpse inside the book here.

2) Closing the Influence Gap: A Practical Guide for Women Leaders Who Want to be Heard by Carla Miller

Empowers women leaders to successfully navigate the workplace, leading their way and changing it for the better.

Glimpse inside the book here.

Carcanet

1) Found Architecture: Selected Poems by Sinéad Morrissey

Reveals how Sinéad Morrissey has developed formally and thematically from the precocious and carefully considered first book, There Was Fire in Vancouver (1996), to the most recent and highly praised, On Balance (2017).

Glimpse inside the book here.

2) Eat or we Both Starve by Victoria Kennefick

Draws readers into seemingly recognisable set-pieces — the family home, the shared meal, the rituals of historical occasions, desire — but Kennefick forges this material into new shapes, making them viable again for exploring what it is to live with the past — and not to be consumed by it.

Glimpse inside the book here.

3) The Clinic, Memory by Elaine Feinstein

This selection, made by the author herself, gathers work from over half a century of published writing, and is completed by a section of new poems.

Glimpse inside the book here.


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