Menopause: The Anthology Advance copies have arrived

We have office stock for Menopause: the Anthology! These are mainly going to authors, endorsers and reviewers, (If you are a reviewer and this appeals to you, give us a shout)

We are taking pre-orders for October now!

Gorgeous cover by Kate Charlesworth.

A wild and wonderful mix of poems and short fiction edited by Catherine Pestano and Cherry Potts

Is the menopause really all about hot flushes, empty nests and HRT? Forty-three writers challenge the clichés in poetry and short fiction.

This anthology will be published on Menopause Day, 18th October 2023. When, we have decided, all (post)menopausal women should celebrate their last period, since we never actually know when it happened. Memorial or celebration, you choose, but we will be having cake. Put the date in your diary!

ISBNs: Print 978-1-913665-85-2 100pp £9.99
eBook: 978-1-913665-86-9 £4.00

By turns furious, funny, passionate, elegant, eloquent, sometimes all of these things at once, but always intimate and incisive, this is an amazing collection from a wonderfully diverse range of voices. It absolutely exemplifies what the arts can do to communicate personal experience in a highly political and socially impactful way. I LOVED IT!


Joanna Brewis, Professor at The Open University and menopause at work researcher

Utterly relatable and so, so clever! I love the combination of humour, sadness, anger and strength that shines through the writings of these talented women.


Jackie Lynch, The Happy Menopause nutritionist, author & podcaster

 

This is such an important book. The menopause should not be just a vanilla-sisters, posh white woman conversation. It affects all of us and global majority women often have worse symptoms which start earlier. I found these stories both inspiring and moving. I’m sure you will too.

Eleanor Mills, Founder of Noon.org.uk – home of the Queenager

The subject of Menopause is just beginning to break the barrier of taboo and become a mainstream discussion point, but that discussion has until now been very serious, medical, and, we would argue, heterosexual and white. This anthology of poems and short fiction aims to address that, with wild and wonderful writing from humour and anger, relief and distress, by women who have experienced menopause, whether naturally or as a result of surgery; with a healthy dose of views from the global majority and the lesbian, bisexual and trans communities.
poetry and stories from:
Adele Evershed
Alison Habens
Alyson Hallett
Amanda Addison
Anne Caldwell
Anne Eccleshall
Anne Macaulay
Cath Holland
Cheryl Powell
Chloe Balcomb
Claire Booker
Claire Lynn
Clare Starling
Ellesar Elhaggagi
Elizabeth A Richter
Em Gray
Erica Borgstrom
Genevieve Carver
Ginger Strivelli
Helen Campbell
Jane Ayres
Jane Burn
Jane McLaughlin
Jessica Manack
Joanne Harris
JP Seabright
Julie-Ann Rowell
Karen F Pierce
Kavita A Jindal
Kim Whysall-Hammond
Lucy Lasasso
Marina Sànchez
Martha Patterson
Mary Mulholland
Rachel Playforth
Ruth Higgins
Sian Northey
Susan Bennett
Susan Cartwright-Smith
Tessa Lang
Tina Bethea Ray
Victoria Bailey
Victoria Ekpo

For International Women’s Day: The Menopause Anthology Contributors

Happy International Women’s Day!

We are delighted to announce the contributors whose work we have chosen for our Menopause anthology. We are still considering a title for the book as a whole, ( is THE Menopause Anthology too obvious??) and still in discussion with a couple of authors, but the current roll call stands like this.

Adele Evershed
Alison Habens
Alyson Hallett
Amanda Addison
Anne Caldwell
Anne Eccleshall
Anne Macaulay
Cath Holland
Cheryl Powell
Chloe Balcomb
Claire Booker
Claire Lynn
Clare Starling
Ellesar Elhaggagi
Elizabeth A Richter
Em Gray
Erica Borgstrom
Genevieve Carver
Ginger Strivelli
Helen Campbell
Jane Ayres
Jane Burn
Jane McLaughlin
Jessica Manack
Joanne Harris
JP Seabright
Julie-Ann Rowell
Karen F Pierce
Kavita A Jindal
Kim Whysall-Hammond
Lucy Lasasso
Marina Sànchez
Martha Patterson
Mary Mulholland
Rachel Playforth
Ruth Higgins
Sian Northey
Susan Bennett
Susan Cartwright-Smith
Tessa Lang
Tina Bethea Ray
Victoria Bailey
Victoria Ekpo

Thank you everyone who submitted and congratulations to our contributors.

The Menopause Anthology will be published on Menopause Day, 18th October 2023. When, we have decided, all menopausal women should celebrate their last period, since we never actually know when it happened. Memorial or celebration, you choose, but we will be having cake. Put the date in your diary!

International Women’s Day Submission Call

Thinking about International Women’s Day, sometimes you wonder how any of us manage to live to grow up, the world can be so hard on women; and sometimes you want to celebrate everything we can be. Being of a cheerful disposition, we’ve gone for celebration.

We thought today was an excellent time to launch our submission call for an anthology of women’s writing. We are giving you a spectacularly long run in on this one, because we want it to be truly amazing, and because we are planning some writing workshops which will be run by editors Cherry Potts and Catherine Pestano (as soon as the funding is in place, we’ll let you know!). These will definitely be available online, for maximum reach, and may also be in person, depending on where we can find suitable writer-friendly venues and what the position is with Covid.

Our October 2023 Anthology is aimed firmly at older women, lesbians and women from the global majority. Our theme is menopause, and the book will be published on Menopuase day 2023 (October the 1st), we want your stories, flash and poems that go waaay beyond the empty nest and feelings of sexual redundancy. Tell us something we don’t know, go wild and magnificent…tell us about surgically induced menopause, unexpected benefits, the freedom of not bleeding… whatever genre you want (within our guidelines), but surprise us.

Submissions via Submittable ONLY

If you need a steer, Helen Morris’ magnificent The Change in Departures is our favourite Menopause story (so far!)

Helen Morris reads from The Change

Happy International Women’s Day 2019

A quick name check of all our brilliant women writers, poets, short story authors and novelists.

Gosh, there are a lot of you aren’t there!

Alex Reece Abbott Alex Smith Alison Lock Alison Moore  Alison Willis  Angela Trevithick Anita Sethi Anna Fodorova A.J. Akoto Abigail Beckel Adrienne Silcock Alannah Egan Alice Tarbuck Alwyn Marriage Angela France Anne Elizabeth Bevan Anne Macaulay  Arike Oke Annabel Banks Alexandra Penland Arna Radovich Aisling Keogh Alison Gerhard  Anne Elizabeth Bevan Ash Lim

Bernie Howley Bridie Toft Bobbie Darbyshire Belinda Huang Barbara Renel

C T Kingston Cassandra Passarelli Caroline Hardman Carolyn Eden Cath Bore Catherine Sharpe Cherry Potts Cindy George Clare Owen Clare Sandling Cathy Bryant Clare Shaw
Corie Feiner Cath Holland Cathy Lennon C.A. Limina Catherine Jones Catriona Yule

Dizz Tate Diana Powell

Eileen Carney Hulme Elinor Brooks Elizabeth Parker Ellery Akers Emma Lee Ellen O’Neill Ellie Stewart  Emily Cleaver Emily Pedder  Emma Timpany Evleen Towey Elizabeth Hopkinson Elisabeth Simon Elizabeth Stott Elaine Hughes

Fiona Salter Frances Gapper

Ghillian Potts Gabrielle Choo Geraldine Green

Helen Morris Helen Slavin

Ilora Choudhury

Jane Aldous Jennifer A. McGowan Jill Sharp Joan Leotta Judi Sutherland Jackie Taylor Jacqueline Downs Jessica Lott Joan Taylor-Rowan J. A. Hopper, Julia Kent,  Jennifer Rickard, Jenny Ramsay, Joanne L. M. Williams, Jayne Buxton Jess Kilby Jasmin Kirkbride Jane Roberts

Karen Bovenmyer Karina Lutz Kate Foley Kate Wise Katie Evans Katy Lee Kelly Davis Katerina Watson Katy Darby Kirsty Fox Karen Ankers Karen Boissonneault-Gauthier

Laila Sumpton Laura Page Lindsay Reid Laura Martz Laura Williams Lee Nash Lily Peters Louise Swingler Lucy Grace Lucy Smith Laura Besley Lucy Ribchester

Mandy Macdonald Maria Kyle Mi L Holliday Michelle Shine Marlee Cox
Megan E. Freeman Michelle Penn Melaina Barnes Maja Bodenstein Máire Malone Miriam Sorrentino Marika Josef Marka Rifat

Natalie Gasper Ness Owen Nina Murray

Pat Tompkins Paula Read Pauline Walker Peng Shepherd Penny Pepper Pippa Gladhill Polly Hall Patty Tomsky Patricia McCaw Patience Mackarness

Rebecca Gould Rebecca J Payne Rebecca Skipwith Rosalind Stopps Robin Winckel-Mellish Rosamund Davies Rachael McGill Reshma Ruia Roppotucha Greenberg

Sarah Deckro Sarah Lawson Sherry Morris Sarah Tait Sarah James Swati Khurana Sara Elgerot Susan Cartwright-Smith Steph Thompson Sue Birchenough Sarah-Clare Conlon Shamini Sriskandarajah Su Yin Yap

Tania Hershman

Uschi Gatward

Wes Lee Wendy Gill

Launch Info for We/She

So excited to be launching We/She on 16th August at 6.45pm

Blackwells, 50 High Holborn London WC1V 6EP

(nearest tube Chancery Lane/ Holborn)

We/She is our latest Liars’ League collaboration and the second of our #WomenVote100 tributes – although there isn’t a suffragette in sight. Instead we play around with traditional ideas about women, and turn a few (actually, a lot of) myths on their heads.
It’s free and there will be readings and refreshments, and, obviously, signed books to buy.

Authors Reading… Joanne LM Williams, Arike Oke, Carolyn Eden, Katy Darby,

Ilora Choudhury, Fiona Salter, Elizabeth Stott, Rosalind Stopps

 

 

 

 

 

 

elizabeth stottKaty Darby headshot Moby big

 

Other authors are attending, so there will be lots of people to sign a copy of the book for you.

Expect dragons, opera singers, mothers… and Elvis

The launch coincides with the 39th anniversary of the death of Elvis. What has that to do with a book of stories by women, you ask… come along and find out!
RSVP

We/She books arrive

One of my favourite moments in the publishing process – when I have the only copies… apart from the distributor of course.

(In case Michele sees this we did NOT break your plate. Clever fakery!)

We/She will be launched at

Blackwells
50 High Holborn
London
WC1V 6EP

on Thursday 16th August. More on that later.

Hither Green Festival video 5 Penelope is No Longer Waiting

Cherry Potts reads her very first published story (Fantasy, of course), Penelope is No Longer Waiting which is in Mosaic of Air.

Hither Green Festival video 3 Katy Darby & Cherry Potts on writing SF/F

Apparently we both know if what we are writing is SciFi, but Fantasy is trickier to pin down.

Find out how you know that what your writing is fantasy… chasing ideas down rabbit holes with Cherry Potts & Katy Darby

Hither Green Festival Video 2 – The audience join in

More from our Women & SciFi/Fantasy evening for Hither Green Festival.

The audience put in their comments and recommendations. Call out for Naomi Novik and the Temeraire series

 

Hither Green Festival Video One – growing up reading SF and Fantasy…

Cherry Potts & Katy Darby Arachne Press authors and editors, talk about growing up reading SF & Fantasy, particularly by women, at Manor House Library for  Hither Green Festival

For the completists amongst you, here is the list Cherry forgot to bring with her of lots of  Sf/Fantasy books she loves, feel free to comment to add your own high points. There are loads more these were the ones that sprang readily to mind!

Growing up with SF/F – YA books and first reads…

Diana Wynne Jones The Spell Coat series
Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising
Sylvia Engdahl Heritage of a star
Jan Mark: Useful Idiots/ Riding Tycho/ The Ennead
Andre Norton Forerunner Foray, Plague Ship, Moon of Three Rings, The Beastmaster, Mark of the Cat, Witchworld series, Octagon Magic, Steel Magic etc
Tanith Lee The Dragon Hoard, Kill the Dead, Companions on the Road, Drinking Sapphire Wine
Ursula le Guin Earthsea series, Lathe of Heaven, Rocannon’s World, Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed (actually pretty much anything by Ursula)
Helen Simpson Ingo series
Joy Chant Red Moon, Black Mountain
Pamela Sargeant Women of Wonder anthologies

Writers discovered in the 70s and 80’s

Margaret Atwood Handmaid’s Tale
Joanna Russ We Who are About to
Jaygee Carr Leviathan’s Deep, Navigator Syndrome
Joan D Vinge Snow Queen, Catspaw,
Jane Yolen Cards of Grief, Briar Rose, short stories,
Vonda McIntyre Fireflood and other stories, Dreamsnake
Elizabeth A Lynn The Woman who Loved the Moon
C J Cherryh Faded Sun, Brothers of Earth, Heavy Time, the Morgaine series
Marian Zimmer Bradley Sword & Sorceress anthologies
Anne McCaffery The ship who sang, Pern series, Decision at Doona
Megan Lindholm Wolf Brother, Harpy’s Flight
Suzy McKee Charnas Walk to the Ends of the World, Motherlines
Nicola Griffith Bending the Landscape (as editor), Hild, Ammonite, Slow RIver
R A MacAvoy Tea with the Black Dragon
Kate Wilhelm The Infinity Box, Where late the sweet birds sing,

Classics:

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Herland, The Yellow Wallpaper
James Tiptree, Jr Houston, Houston do you read? (short story) Her Smoke Went Up for Ever
Naomi Mitchison Memoirs of a Space Woman
Vera Chapman Three Damosels
Zenna Henderson The Anything Box

More recent:

Naomi Novik Temeraire series
Emily St John Mandel: Station Eleven
Aimee Bender The Colour Master (short stories)
Kate Atkinson Not the End of the World, Life After Life

Women writers of SF/Fantasy published by Arachne Press

Alex Smith Devilskein & Dearlove
Cherry Potts Mosaic of Air, The Dowry Blade
Ghillian Potts The Naming of Brook Storyteller series

Anthologies: (stories with SF/F flavour by women, there is SF/F by men, and stories with nothing to do with either SF or fantasy in most of them!)
Weird Lies (Alex Smith, Angela Trevithick, C T Kingston,Ellen O ‘Neill, Maria Kyle, Peng Shepherd, Rebecca J Payne) winner of Saboteur2014 best anthology award
Lovers’ Lies (Mi L Holliday, Michelle Shine)
We/She (J A Hopper, Joanne L M Williams, Jennifer Rickard, Elizabeth Hopkinson, Ilora Choudhury, Katy Darby)
Five by Five (Katy Darby, Helen Morris)
Solstice Shorts (Helen Morris, Imogen Robertson, Cindy George, Jayne Pickering)
Shortest Day, Longest Night (Polly Hall, Katy Darby,Pippa Gladhill, Karen Bovenmyer, Cherry Potts, Frances Gapper)
Dusk (Pippa Gladhill, Penny Pepper, Fiona Salter, Helen Slavin,Katy Lee)
Liberty Tales (Katy Darby, Cherry Potts, Sarah Evans)
Stations (Cherry Potts, Caroline Hardman)