Books

10 Essential Books About Writing

An illustration shows a person with brown skin and brown hair with a pencil in their mouth, bookshelves with blue, purple, yellow, and pink book covers behind them, and a laptop in front of them.
by Nylah Burton
April 6, 2022 at 12:07pm
Must-read titles for writers include works by Elena Ferrante, Akwaeke Emezi, Meg Wolitzer, Yoko Ogawa, and more.

Oh Joy Sex Toy: Coming Out Like a Porn Star

by Erika Moen
January 12, 2016 at 2:54pm
An illustrated review of a new book that compiles sex workers' personal stories. Read more »

Check Out Subversive New Alphabet Book "P is for Pussy"

by Jean Ho
January 4, 2016 at 1:36pm
The book is steeped in references to feminine power. Read more »

Cut & Paste: Biographical Zines

by Lindsay Gibb
December 28, 2015 at 12:39pm
From “The Life and Times of Butch Dykes” to “Bad Girls Throughout History,” we highlight awesome zines.  Read more »

In a New Harry Potter Production, Actor Noma Dumezweni Will Play Hermione

by Sarah Mirk
December 22, 2015 at 10:39am
Casting a Black woman as Hermione is a big deal.  Read more »

I Read 50 Books by Women of Color This Year!

by Victoria Law
December 15, 2015 at 4:46pm
If you don't seek out new voices, it's easy to fall into reading books primarily, if not solely, by white authors. Read more »

Messy, Beautiful Queers: Two Writers on Queer Kinship and Parenting

by Wendy Elisheva Somerson
December 10, 2015 at 2:30pm
Read these two brilliant new books. Read more »

Cut & Paste: Zines About Sobriety

by Taryn Hipp
December 3, 2015 at 1:24pm
Five powerful zines about recovery, sober living, and finding community. Read more »

Poet Fatimah Asghar Speaks About Survival, Language, and Diaspora

by Amy Lam
November 24, 2015 at 4:22pm
Fatimah Asghar’s poetry is brutally beautiful. Her stanzas are heavy with pain yet buoyant with light. Read more »

Revisiting Meghan Daum's Essay Collection "My Misspent Youth"

by Jess Kibler
November 11, 2015 at 12:27pm
Meghan Daum’s 2001 cult-classic collection is being reissued this month. How does it hold up?  Read more »
Face becoming stars and cityscape

Rewriting Reality: A Forthcoming Speculative Fiction Anthology Asks Transgender Authors to Imagine New Worlds

by Katherine Cross
November 10, 2015 at 11:58am
It’s been a helter-skelter year for sci-fi and geekdom. Read more »

Pages

Best of Bitch

Eat, Pray, Spend: Priv-Lit and the New, Enlightened American Dream

Elizabeth Gilbert, a white woman wearing a navy blue jumpsuit, leans forward and holds hand with and Oprah Winfrey, a Black woman wearing a gray cardigan and jeans
by Joshunda Sanders
Summer 2010 • Action
Even as reports on joblessness, economic recovery, and home foreclosures suggest that no one is immune to risk during this recession, the popularity of women’s wellness media has persisted and, indeed, grown stronger.  Read more »

Hot Under the Bonnet: The Cooptation of Amish Culture in Mass-Market Fiction

a blue and white illustration of a woman in Amish attire standing next to a fan and a chicken
by Audrey deCoursey
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
Dubbed “Amish romance novels,” “Amish fiction,” or the more waggish “bonnet rippers,” these novels just one entry point into the varying images of Amish communities in U.S. popular culture. Read more »

A Look at How Media Writes Women of Color

by Victoria Law
November 17, 2014 at 5:07pm
Nearly every Saturday morning, feminists of color hold Twitter discussions taking a deeper look at issues, such as gender violence. It’s the... Read more »

Demanding the Impossible: Walidah Imarisha Talks About Science Fiction and Social Change

by Kristian Williams
April 13, 2015 at 2:23pm
Before she was a poet, journalist, documentary filmmaker, anti-prison activist, and college instructor, Walidah Imarisha was fascinated... Read more »