“I thought it had been done. Thousands of books say let’s talk again about women and literature, what we value and don’t value, and whose stories are being told. But somehow, that glass ceiling still seems to miraculously go back in place.”
That’s what Anna Beer said early on at the Q&A session for her new book Eve Bites Back: An Alternative History of English Literature.
As a literature student myself, naturally I was intrigued when offered to attend the event on behalf of Bristol Women’s Voice. The talk was hosted by the lovely staff at Gloucester Road Books and Sidney & Eden, and chaired by Helen Taylor, a retired English professor. It turned out to be a friendly evening of thought-provoking discussion about gender in our literary history.
Women writing against the odds
Eve Bites Back is a celebration and documentation of women from the 14th century onwards who put pen to paper despite being regarded as mad, undisciplined or dangerous. It places both known and unknown writers like Jane Austen and Aemilia Lanyer in the spotlight, and uncovers the stories of how they challenged society’s limiting sexist beliefs.
Yasmin Khan, an associate professor of history at the University of Oxford, writes in her review:
“Startling stories and facts on every page. Written with a clear and authoritative voice, this is both a very entertaining and very important book about the many obstacles that women have overcome to be writers, and the long struggles even the most gifted and well-connected women authors have encountered in order to be taken seriously.”
Speaking for unheard voices
The conversation began with how the book was built upon Beer’s “slow-burned, righteous anger” about women’s place in literature. With a provocative title alluding to the Biblical story and myth of Eve (an intelligent woman who had power over Adam), the book explores how literature has always been a male-dominated sphere, and that books written by women even today are often quickly reduced to the chick-flick genre.
Anna and Helen talked about how women through the ages have been unable to find writing success as they silenced themselves for protection in society. However, they were writing nonetheless, and they could’ve had a legacy similar to their male contemporaries. Yet they were rarely taken seriously enough. Women’s work was usually ignored and appropriated; it was hardly ever shared or published. So this book is also for those who aren’t featured: women writers whose work no one ever knew about.
Importance beyond the academic world
Anna noted that a running theme throughout her book is this silence, and a self-imposed silence. That it’s our job now to listen to these silences and look for clues. Because we have access to so many books written by women nowadays, it can be easy to think domains like literature are “inclusive enough”. However, all forms of misogyny and sexism are still present.
It made me think about the importance of uplifting women in all types of work that they do, whether that be creative, professional or domestic. And that literature and literacy are also a privilege not afforded to everyone.
An empowering manifesto
At the end of the discussion, the audience could ask questions, and I asked how Anna hopes that this book may be used or received. She said she wasn’t sure if it would make a difference at all.
But I think she should give herself way more credit – she’s telling stories of women that our culture could be more aware of. Even if just downstairs at a small ba in Bristol, Anna is building the conversation around silenced voices; inspiring those at the event or who read the book; and who knows, maybe even empowering women to pick up a pen and feel more confident in their work.
More about the author and chair
Anna Beer is a cultural historian and biographer who has written other books including Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music. Helen Taylor has also written a range of books with a focus on women and women’s writing, such as Why Women Read Fiction: The Stories of Our Lives. You can get these books and other feminist non-fiction online or at independent bookshops like Gloucester Road Books.
