Speaking the truth, calling it like it is, using your voice---being authentic are all hallmarks of the feminist movement. But the more we speak the truth, the more we risk a backlash.
And this creates the risk that we could lose our voices, just when we need them the most.
In today’s episode, I share a conversation between an award-winning novelist and memoirist, Rachel Cusk and Brooke Warner, the publisher of SheWrites Press and SparkPress.
Cusk's memoirs include “A Life’s Work. On Becoming a Mother” and “Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation” where she documents her experiences with motherhood and divorce in real-time. Her memoirs were both hailed and hated by critics--and throughout her career she’s written extensively about female freedom, constraints and femininity... so she’s had a lot of time to get the kind of flack she thinks might give pause to other women who want to write the truth of their lives. Rachel Cusk and Brooke Warner spoke about Rachel’s memoirs, her new “Outline” trilogy of novels, and the challenges and the opportunities for women who speak the truth, in April, 2019 at Women Lit, a program of the Bay Area Book Festival. Their conversation has been edited and condensed and I am excited to share it with you here on Inflection Point.
Brooke and I also had a chance to speak about why she only publishes women authors and the radical act for women of using our voices and speaking the truth. It’s a 2-fer! Brooke Warner is the publisher at SheWrites Press and SparkPress, writer, writing coach and podcast host.
You can hear more conversations from Women Lit that I’ve hosted, at inflectionpointradio.orgm including Rebecca Traister, Khalida Brohi, and Gloria Steinem.