Hard as it is to pull myself away from the cushy comfort of my hometown (Mom, Dad: thanks for the memories!), Courtney and I head to St. Charles, IL for the National Women’s Studies Association conference first thing tomorrow. If you’re there, come say hi. On Friday and Saturday, we’ll be signing books together (depending on how much sleep we’ve had, we may start signing each others’…) and then on Sunday at 10am, I’ll be leading a workshop on publishing books for trade — here’s what it’s about:

Publishing in Women’s Studies: A Public Voice
Sun, Jul 1 – 10:00am – 12:30pm
Women’s studies scholars and students write about topics central to public debate. Yet too often our work fails to reach an audience outside of the academy. At the same time, to write a book in today’s competitive publishing climate, scholars must appeal to a broader audience than was necessary in the past. This session brings together the people who can help facilitate these translations-literary agents and editors-with scholars who are currently negotiating the traverse. Panelists will discuss the components of a successful book proposal, the writerly and professional payoffs of “crossing over,” and the scholarly challenges of writing “pop” while pursuing tenure.


Session Leaders
Deborah Siegel, Author and Consultant
Jean Casella, Editor

Nancy Crossman, Crossman Literary Agency

Chicago – SO my kind of town. (Well, NYC my kind of town too, but, well, you know…)

I’m still high from Tuesday’s reading at The Book Stall – the place I went to pick out books when I was twelve. Not only did I have my two grandmas in the house and my high school English teacher to whom the book is partly dedicated, but a 9-mo.-pregnant-and-about-to-pop dear friend from high school (pictured left) and my soulmate from graduate school, Eileen (pictured right), were there too. Also attending: my parents’ beloved shrink friends, two great-aunts, Aunt Shellie and Uncle Jim, and, yes, even some folks I didn’t know. It was so comfy, I felt like I was reading in my parents’ living room. Thank you to all for such a warm homecoming — and for such lively post-reading conversation!

It was on Monday down in Soho, and I am lame for not posting this in time! Not that you can still go or anything, but just so folks know how very cool Culture Project (the sponsoring org) is, here’s what went on — you know, so you can feel bummed that you missed it too:

Jennifer Buffett moderated a conversation between and about women making serious change in the world, on a variety of platforms: Aisha al-Adawiya (Women In Islam), Gloria Feldt (activist, author, former president of Planned Parenthood), Carol Jenkins (Women’s Media Center), Idelisse Malave (Tides Foundation), and Letty Cottin Pogrebin (activist and author). And here’s how they describe it:

Culture Project’s Women Center Stage a multi-disciplinary festival featuring women artists whose work calls attention to human struggles globally. From Pulitzer Prize-winner Samantha Power to Chinese-Jamaican spoken word poet Staceyann Chin, Eve Ensler to Iranian comedian Negin Farsad, Carol Gilligan to Azar Nafisi, a play about human trafficking to a film about Hurricane Katrina (in 2007 alone) – we don’t represent everyone and everything, but we make a pretty strong effort at gathering most of it.

Now that’s a festival I want to join.

Greetings from sweet home Chicago! I’m happily ensconsed at Mom and Dad’s, preparing for the Chicago book-related activities this week. Still, can’t help the surfing, and boy oh boy – I just got to get me this book: Girls Gone Mild by Wendy Shalit. More from me on the subject as soon as I have a chance to check it out, but in the meantime, WSJ piece on it here.

Mom, Dad, and I watched “Age of Love” last night (cougars — women in their 40s — versus kittens — women in their 20s — duking it out for the love of a bachelor). And then part of “Science of Love” (go Pepper Schwartz!). I have TONS to say, but no time at present. Book tour — and my amazing 97-year-old grandmother who now lives here with my parents — calls. But stay tuned!

How much am I loving the Women’s Leadership Initiative at Demos? They’re sponsoring a forum on my book on July 26 in NYC (save the date!). But I also love them for highlighting “fresh thinking, research and writing by and about the importance of women’s leadership in building a strong democracy and securing economic prosperity.” I mean, what’s better than that?

If in the area, don’t miss their forum this week on Moms Who Work: Myth and Reality

Thurs., June 28, 2007
Program from 12:15-1:45 pm at Demos
220 Fifth Ave, 5th Floor
New York, NY

Here’s the deal:

Join Demos and co-sponsors for a discussion with E.J. Graff on the realities faced by working mothers (and their families) in the U.S. today. Drawing upon her article “The Opt Out Myth” published in the March/April 2007 edition of the Columbia Journalism Review, Graff will dispel myths perpetuated by misleading reporting and media hype, such as the “opt-out revolution” and the “mommy wars”– and will discuss how those storylines can harm public policy.

Panelists will respond to Graff with research, analysis, and discussion about the real issues facing various groups of working women; how advocates are creating policies to support women and their families; and what more still needs to be done: Carol Jenkins, Women’s Media Center; Linda Lisi Juergens, National Association of Mothers’ Centers (NAMC); and Lois K. Backon, Families and Work Institute. This event will be moderated by Linda Tarr-Whelan, Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos.

Co-sponsored by: The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University, Women’s Media Center, Families & Work Institute, National Association of Mothers Centers, The Columbia Journalism Review

I had a blast reading at Bluestockings last night and was totally touched by Jennifer Baumgardner’s introduction. What a natural high to look out on a hometown crowd that’s full of friends and loved ones. Thank you to all of you who attended (full house!), to Marco and Elizabeth for pouring wine, and to all those who came for a drink at Lolita Bar post-reading.

Moving from the serious to the silly, I spent the day recovering at Coney Island, watching the Mermaid Parade. What a hoot. I want to dress up next year in glitter, bikini (keeping the top on, thank you), and tail. One part Mardi Gras, one part summer Halloween, and fully New York City, it was a dreamy way to kick off the season and take a quick break from The Tour. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend. Even if the idea of shells and rollerblades doesn’t turn you on, it’s a great spectator’s event, and very up-with-people and all. I found myself unmistakably moved by the irreverent celebration of beauty, bodies, and sea.

Washington DC.

My friend Heather once told me, soon after she had her first baby, that all the things that worry you about motherhood when you’re pregnant are none of the things you worry about once you have that kid. You worry about different things instead. I feel a bit like that about this book (Sisterhood, Interrupted). Before it was born, I worried (well, worried is strong – more like wondered) that I’d offend older women readers or alienate younger ones. Or both. Or that I’d be accused of adding fuel to the flame by writing about feminist fights. So far, nope.

In that miraculous stroke of stars in alignment and timing (I think being published right after Jessica and Courtney’s books took off like wildfire, starting crucial debates, was fortuitous), my book seems to be hitting folks in just the way I had hoped — and is drumming up some panels and forums for cross-generational conversation among gals old and young. (Stay tuned for more details – but the first one is a Demos Forum on July 26th. Lots more in the works for Fall.)

So what are the worries, a week post-delivery? Only the silly stuff. Like forgetting my camera on the South Jersey trip and not being able to preserve the memory of walking down Alice Paul’s staircase at Paulsdale, or not publicly thanking the manager of Olsson’s Bookstore last night in DC (THANK YOU, Olsson’s!), or not taking a photo (brought the camera this time) of Emily Napalo and Diana, assistants to Ellie Smeal at Feminist Majority Foundation and Kim Gandy at NOW respectively, who came to the reading, to post here on the blog….

So before I forget, a warm shout out to those in DC: Emily, Diana, Michal Avni, Heather Boushey, Allison Kimmich, Sarah Blustain, Ann Friedman, and especially to my host John Schmidt. And to the young women (esp Danielle) who interviewed me for PBS’s To the Contrary. You all totally made my day!

A thoughtful, intergenerational review of Sisterhood, Interrupted–by Linda Hirshman and then Nona Willis-Aronowitz appears in today’s New York Observer.

I’m off to catch a train to DC for a PBS taping and a reading tonight at Olsson’s, DuPont Circle. If you’re in the DC area, please, come say hello!

Here we go: “Sex Wars Old and New”.

Favorite comments from “williepilgrim,” who writes,

Why not consider the following: no matter how much we wish it weren’t so, objective truth in reality is a direction in which to travel. It will never be a destination at which one resides.

…and “Lon,” who writes:

Are these debates about sexuality to be contrasted with debates about religion and ethics which we are so good at resolving once and for all?

Official tour kicked off this week with a reading at a Border’s near Philly, hosted by the South Jersey Alice Paul chapter of NOW. Proceeds from the day went to the chapter — I hope they collected oodles! The audience was my ideal group, and I’m afraid they set the standard, now, for this tour. The president of the chapter was in her late 20s, and there were members there in their 60s as well.

Before the event, my host, the amazing, inspiring, long-time activist Judy Buckman, brought me to visit Paulsdale, the birthplace of Alice Paul. Apparently, during the long, hard suffrage campaign, Alice occasionally came there to recharge. Surrounded by acres of beautiful country, Paulsdale was her personal retreat. Judy told me about the more recent fight circa 1991 to register the place as a historic landmark (“Now it’d be easier if, say, you were talking about the home of Thomas Jefferson,” the Paulsdale crusaders were told.) The gorgeously restored farmhouse (above) is now home to the Alice Paul Institute, complete with leadership programs for young women and girls. I can’t wait to introduce the Woodhull (yes, as in Victoria) Institute to Alice’s Institute, if they aren’t friends already. I find it intensely moving the way first-wave heroines are being reclaimed by women’s institutions today.

In a stroke of perfect timing, Iron Jawed Angels arrived from Netflix last night. Can’t wait to check out Hilary Swank’s impersonation of Alice. Yeah, like I’m now on first-name basis with the author of the ERA. Guess that’s what happens when you visit Paulsdale. There’s something truly magical and inspirited about the place. Go there. You’ll see what I mean.