GAVIN O’TOOLE welcomes a bold feminist subversion of classic folktales that are ubiquitous in the Irish imagination
A woman for all seasons
SYLVIA HIKINS is enthralled by a biography of an extraordinary, 19th-century mould-breaker who influenced policies regarding the status of women in society
PRESSING AGENDAS: A Punch cartoon from 1867 mocks John Stuart Mill's attempt to replace the term 'man' with 'person,' ie give women the right to vote: "Pray clear the way, there, for these – a – persons." (author unknown)
[Public Domain]
A novel by Mexican Juan Pablo Villalobos, poetry by Mexican Ingrid Bringas, and a biography by Argentinian Mercedes Halfon
PAUL DONOVAN applauds an entertaining dramatisation of the famous dispute that gives insight into the struggle, and Murdoch’s unscrupulous mendacity
ELLIS RAE is disappointed by the revival of a nihilistic play that fails to offer alternatives for social change
STEVE JOHNSON recommends an exceptional album that explores the narrative folk tradition often with a strong political message
JOHN GREEN appreciates an informative and readable account of the nation state and its current dilemmas, but doubts the solutions this author has to offer
Trailblazer: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, The First Feminist to Change Our World
by Jane Robinson
Doubleday £11.58
OH MY goodness, here’s another game changer from the past who didn’t fit the bill regarding gender, establishment ideology, power elites, patriarchy, who has been erased by most historians writing his-story!
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon was born in 1827 and during her lifespan of 64 years, pioneered and developed far reaching concepts regarding feminism, women’s rights, equal opportunities, diversity, inclusion and mental health awareness.
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SYLVIA HIKINS relishes Jeanette Winterson’s brilliant hijack of 1001 Nights to push aside the boundaries set by others
RON JACOBS welcomes a timely homage to one of the IWW and CPUSA’s most effective orators
NICK MATTHEWS previews a landmark book launch taking place in Leicester next weekend
SYLVIA HIKINS applauds a polemic against “cleanfluencers” and considers radical alternatives to current inequalities of housework