How Workshops, Community and Curiosity Shaped My Writing Life For any readers wanting to get into the business of poetry: I didn’t set out with a grand plan to become a poet. In fact, my journey began quite simply—with a decision to attend a face-to-face poetry workshop. I wrote a poem instead of a short story for class one time and a member, Dani, suggested I try poetry instead. I still remember that afternoon at City Lit: the circle of chairs, the quiet shuffling of not

Ms. and Smith College Program for the Study of Women, Gender & Sexuality Present — Writing for the Popular Press: A Workshop for Feminist Scholars and Grassroots Leaders, on campus at Smith College, July 13-15, 2026. Application deadline: March 16, 2026. Workshop leaders include Ms. scholars, writers and editors: Aviva Dove-Viebahn, Arizona State University Carrie N. Baker, Smith College Loretta Ross, Smith College Janell Hobson, University at Albany Stacy Keltner, Kennesaw S

Born in 1921, the young Gimbutas travelled across Lithuania collecting traditional songs and folklore, which became the basis for her in-depth studies in linguistics, archeology, and ethnology. She even created a new science and research area of her own called “archeomythology” (1), (4). At home and abroad, she turned into one of the most prominent and outstanding–but also co ntroversial–female researchers of the 20th century in the Western world. World War II forced her fa

Archives, Access, and Agency On unearthing women’s histories and sustaining feminist learning Video: Uncovering Ancestral Women: A Historian's Journey a Community Conversation with Max Dashu ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdld79vMbMk ) The story of feminist knowledge is also the story of who gets to access it. Generations of feminist thinkers have wrestled with the tension of how to make learning accessible without burning out the people who teach it. Free community conver

Editorial Introduction Batya Weinbaum Welcome to 25.2! We are pleased to offer you three critical essays, a poem, and many solid reviews. Although Merry Byrd is staying on to perform other functions, this will be the last review section that she edits for us. At her own request, she is stepping down and passing the torch to Hannah Victoria Palmer (H.Palmer2@lboro.ac.uk) from the UK. We thank Merry for her many years of excellence performance as our review editor and for contr

Creative Editor FEMSPEC, an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal dedicated to challenging gender through speculative means in any genre, seeks a volunteer editorial collective member starting for 26.1 no later than January 1. Duties include: Attending collective meetings on a regular basis (now Friday 10:30 AM EST) Receiving creative submissions to screen and coordinate peer-review Seeking creative submissions and reviewers through professional channels and personal netw