Meet the early trailblazing women of world literature in this exciting new lecture series at the State Library of NSW. It has not always been easy for women to write. Virginia Woolf famously wrote a “woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction”. Over three lectures, you will hear about courageous women who braved societal disapproval and censors in their urgent desire to wield a pen and insist on their right to expression.
On the Greek island of Lesbos, Sappho began writing poetry; in the Japanese Imperial Court Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Gengi, and Julian of Norwich was an anchoress writing about suffering and divine love.
State Library NSW, Auditorium, Lower Ground Floor
Tuesday, 29 July 2025 10:30 am – 11:30 am
More information and bookings here
Meet three intriguing women – one writing in a French chateau, another in a Mexican convent and the last at the Restoration Court of England.
State Library NSW, Auditorium, Lower Ground Floor
Tuesday, 5 August 2025 10:30 am – 11:30 am
More information and bookings here
Women in England began to write novels, breaking new ground as they did so. Learn about two women who directly influenced Jane Austen and whose own lives were intriguing.
State Library NSW, Auditorium, Lower Ground Floor
Tuesday, 12 August 2025 10:30 am – 11:30 am
More information and bookings here
I do hope you can join me at these lectures. Do you have a favourite trailblazing woman in literature? Let me know your thoughts in a comment.
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Margaret Debenham
My favourite of the early trailblazing women has to be Sappho – I love her poems, even though we sadly only have fragments of them. It would be wonderful if more came to light! But I also enjoy early Japanese women’s writing – The Tale of Genji is perhaps the most “literary”, while other books such as The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon and the untitles work by an anonymous woman (now known as As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams, its writer being known as either Takame’s Daughter or Lady Sarashina – this I learnt from the intro to the copy I have) are autobiographical snippets/travel diaries/scraps of poetry/random thoughts and more – so I’m not sure how they fit into the concept of “literary” literature, but they are very entertaining reads and beautifully written. As the editor of As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams points out, Japanese women’s “works like The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book … now, a millennium later, still rank among Japan’s proudest achievements, while the laborious writings of their male contemporaries are read by few people except scholars”. And then, from Italy, there is The Book of the City of Ladies – again I’m not sure how it can be classified; it is somewhat of a polemic about the undeserved inequality of women using numerous examples of real and legendary women – but as I recall it is a very good read (it’s been a while since I read these books, but you’ve reminded me I should re-read them). In conclusion – I am really looking forward to your lecture series!