Throughout history, the professional world has been unbalanced regarding gender equality. Likewise, this has been evident in the world of publishing. Before feminist movements, men dominated the field as writers, with a staggering 90% of male authorship. But that number is becoming more balanced, as it’s now reported that the gender divide among authors is 50/50.
Looking at another aspect of the publishing industry, with the rise of feminist-published works, there have been several women-owned and led publishing houses. In this Bookstr article, we would like to take a moment to showcase a few of our picks.
Creature Publishing
Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Creature Publishing ponders the great horrors that prey on us all: the horrors of humanity. Specifically focusing on feminism and intersectionality, the works produced by Creature explore the terrors of societal obstacles and anxieties. The publishing house was founded in 2019 by Amanda Manns and Olivia Batker Pritzker, with Pritzker leaving in 2023. They host a growing collection of authors, including V. Castro. Creature’s authors have been critically acknowledged, as they have been rewarded with the Bram Stoker Award, the Ladies of Horror Fiction Award, and the Foreword Indies. The future looks bright with their upcoming releases, including Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum and Root Rot by Saskia Nislow.
The Feminist Press
At the height of the second wave of feminism, Florence Howe founded The Feminist Press in 1970 in New York City. Known as the “Mother of Women’s Studies,” Florence Howe was an acclaimed author herself, as her new company reprinted classic feminist favorites from important names such as Zora Neale Hurston and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Sadly, Howe passed away in 2020, but The Feminist Press lives on to produce vital works that address the current social atmosphere with a focus on feminist topics.
While producing 12 to 15 books a year, the mission is to offer critique revolving around social transformations and to provide an inclusive atmosphere to boost the voices of the marginalized. Their most recent new releases include Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy, Coming Out Like a Porn Star by Jiz Lee, The Weird Sister Collection by Marisa Crawford, and Tongueless by Lau Yee-Wa.
Virago Books
Also fueled by the feminist movements of the 1970s, Australian author Carmen Callil established Virago Books in 1973. Callil was the author of such titles as Oh Happy Day: Those Times and These Times and Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family, Fatherland, and Vichy France. During its birth, Virago Books was one of the few British publishers battling gender inequality in the industry. Established on a foundation of showcasing women authors and discussing feminist topics, Virago Books has continued to evolve with the times with a focus on intersectionality and underrepresented genders.
They produce a spectrum of fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature. In 1978, they started a Virago Modern Classic series, focusing on important women writers during the past century. They continue to look for new ways to build reader engagement through their Ourshelves podcast. Some of their recent releases include Corregidora by Gayl Jones and A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark.
Aunt Lute Books
Created by Barb Wieser and Joan Pinkvoss in 1982, after a few transformations, Aunt Lute Books is now based in San Francisco, where it continues as a non-profit organization. Their roster includes some extremely significant feminist works, such as Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals, Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, and Alice Walker’s Alice Walker Banned. Today, Aunt Lute Books strives to initiate the careers of new authors, while keeping their passion for inclusiveness and intersectionality. They are a two-time winner of the Best of the Small Presses Award bestowed by the international cultural studies magazine Standards.
Persephone Books
Sharing their passion for reprinting classics written by women authors, Nicola Beauman, founder of Persephone Books, was inspired by Virago — fun fact, Virago published Beauman’s first work, A Very Great Profession: The Woman’s Novel 1914–39. Beginning in 1999 in Bath, England, Beauman’s mission with Persephone Books is to reprint nearly forgotten fiction and non-fiction written by women from the late 19th and 20th centuries. Starting as a mail-order publisher, Persephone continues to run mainly as an online store, but also as a physical store in Bath.
We are grateful for these women and the companies they have established so that the stories of other women have a platform to be heard.
To read more about fierce women, check out our article Her Body, Her Choice: 10 Reads That Pack a Powerful Punch.
For more books on womanhood, check out our bookshelf Thoughtprovoking Novels About Womanhood.
