Calling writers near Berkeley! Brooke and Krista are from Seal Press, and I imagine this workshop will be pretty amazing.

CREATIVITY WORKSHOP FOR WRITERS with KRISTA LYONS-GOULD and BROOKE WARNER

Sat., January 26, 2008 10am to 5pm
At Northbrae Church in Berkeley, CA

For more information, click here. To Register: b.warner@earthlink.net.

I am freakishly proud of–and inspired by–my two friends:

Film Premiere!

Praying with Lior, a film by filmmaking genius Ilana Trachtman, opens at Cinema Village in NYC on February 1st. I saw Lior at the Margaret Mead Film Festival in November and, like the rest of the sold-out crowd, was moved to tears. The film has inspired standing ovations, sold out screenings, Audience Awards for Best Documentary, op-eds and rave reviews. Ilana will do Q & A at all evening screenings opening weekend. Cinema Village is at 22 E.12th St. Buy Individual Tickets here. Group tickets: Joe or Minos, CV 212-924-3364.

On January 15, the Jewish Museum will screen Praying with Lior at 3:00 and 6:30. Lior’s parents will do Q & A after the 6:30 show, followed by panel on disability in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Distinguished panelists are William Gaventa, M.Div, Editor of Religion and Disability, Rabbi Dan Grossman, Adath Israel Congregation, and Sarah Lawrence Professor of Islamic Studies Kristin Zahra Sands. NYU”s Professor Faye Ginsburg will moderate. My mom and I will be in the audience too 🙂 Tickets.

Lior is also playing at film festivals around the country–Atlanta, L.A., Minneapolis, Tampa, Denver, San Diego, Houston, Hartford, Ithaca, Seattle, Cherry Hill, West Orange, Westchester, and Boston. And Caracas! Dates and tickets. You can watch the trailer here.

CD Release Party!

Superstar Sarah Ann Corkum will be jamming on tambourine with her band Corduroy Days tonight at R Bar (218 Bowery). The night starts off at 7 with an open bar (until 8pm) and the band goes on around 9. Of course, if not in NYC you can check out the music at their website and get your groove on, too.

In case you missed it here, Virginia Rutter’s guest post, “Who Voted Their Gender in Iowa?” (hint: it wasn’t women) is now up over at AlterNet. Please feel free to go there and comment away!

Ok, so clearly I’m on an image raid this morning. This is the cover of a new collection of short stories that circle around the themes of contemporary masculinity and war, which Courtney reviewed. Says she, these “stories explore domestic violence, rape, thwarted love, miscarriages, familial relationships etc. Basically there isn’t a hot button issue concerning masculinity and violence that this volume doesn’t touch, although always in an artful, complex way.” I think this just became the book I’m reading next. (Thanks, C!)

And while we’re on the topic of images (see post below), this just in, from feministing’s Hillary Sexism Watch. Very original, dudes.

I recently discovered a very cool new blog called Sociological Images, run by Professor Lisa D. Wade at Occidental College. Sometimes, images speak more than a thousand words. Much, much more, here. (Thanks, Virginia, for the heads up!)

Earlier this month, Facebook.com teamed up with The Case Foundation to present a Giving Challenge–Facebook will award money to Causes with the most amount of unique donors. That’s right, not the highest amount of money raised, but the highest number of unique donors. So even the smallest donation really, really counts. On behalf of the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, I’m posting this request:

We’re asking you to donate $10 and recruit your friends to do the same in the 24-hour period starting 3PM Eastern/12PM Pacific on this Tuesday, January 15th through 3PM Eastern/12PM Pacific on this Thursday, January 16th to help Woodhull win $1000!

If you miss those dates, you can still help us out by donating and recruiting – we can still win the 50-day challenge! Read more about the challenge here.

Remember they are interested in unique donors so the more individuals that donate $10 the greater the chances that Woodhull could get a $1,000 match for the day and $50,000 for the 50 day challenge.

Happy New Year!
Wende Jager-Hyman

To make a donation, click here.

Taking a break from election obsession to post this announcement for an upcoming event close to my heart. If in the NYC area, join me at St. John Church (44 John Street) on Jan. 18 at 7pm! Courtney Martin and I will be introducing as New York City’s young women writers read, in pairs, with the women writers who inspire them.

And huge, huge thank yous to those who made end-of-year donations to this fabulous organization. Your helps makes all the difference in the world.

Given all the attention this week on feminism, the age gap, and younger women’s vote, I thought I’d post here an interview I did for Women’s Radio that just went up. Have at it 🙂

I’m late on this one, but I’m jumping for joy that Feministe’s Jill Filopovic is now a presence at AlterNet. Jill is the editor of their newly-launched Reproductive Justice and Gender section. If you haven’t been there yet, GO! Go now! To whet your appetite, here’s a sampling of stories included in the roundup over there today:

Hillary’s Gender Is a Bigger Deal Than We’d Like to Admit
Megan Garber, Columbia Journalism Review. January 9, 2008.
An in-depth look at media coverage of Clinton’s emotion.

Maribel Rosas, American Sexuality Magazine.
A young Latina woman chooses to give birth, and discovers her mother’s support.
Gender Equality Cheers and Jeers. January 8, 2008.

The Reality Behind Hollywood Pregnancies
Susie Bright, SusieBright.com. January 7, 2008.
Here’s some of the things you can look forward to in your unplanned Hollywood pregnancy.

Pop Culture Pregnancies, Teen Edition
Katha Pollitt, The Nation. January 7, 2008.
Teens getting pregnant: bad. Teens having babies: good. If this makes no sense, wake up and smell the Enfamil: it’s 2008!

Click here to get at the links.