Feminist Academic Press Column

April, 2001

Publisher List

Subject List

Univ. Press of Colorado Press Cornell Univ. Press Duke Univ. Press New York University Press (NYU) Oxford Univ. Press Rutgers Univ. Press Southern Illinois Univ. Press State Univ. of New York Pr. (SUNY) Univ. of Illinois Press Univ. of Iowa Press Univ. of Missouri Press Univ. of Nebraska Press Univ. of New Mexico Press Univ. of Pittsburgh Press Univ. of Texas Press Univ. of Wisconsin Press Univ. Press of Kansas Utah State Univ. Press

Arts: Art, Photography Tina Modotti Andrea Noble Autobiography "My Heart Is a Large Kingdom" Robert N. Hudspeth, editor Biography Maida Springer Yevette Richards Sarah Winnemucca Sally Zanjani Tall Woman Charlotte J. Frisbie Education Relocating the Personal Barbara Kamler and Michelle Fine [forward by] Women Administrators in Higher Education Jana Nidiffer and Carolyn Terry Bradshaw, editors Fiction In a State of Memory Tununa Mercado, Translated by Peter Kahn and With an introduction by Jean Franco Gay/Lesbian Studies Margaret Mead Made Me Gay Esther Newton Gender Studies The Lieutenant Nun Sherry Velasco Health & Medicine Manmade Breast Cancers Zillah Eisenstein The Osteoporosis Book Nancy E. Lane, M.D. Out of the Dead House Susan Wells History Mormon Healer & Folk Poet Margaret K. Brady International: Africa In Praise of Black Women, Volume 1 Simone Schwarz-Bart, with André Schwarz-Bart and forward by Howard Dodson Lesbian Studies You're Not from Around Here, Are You? Louise A. Blum Literary Criticism Women's Holocaust Writing S. Lillian Kremer Literature Bryher: Two Novels Bryher and edited by Joanne Winning A Group of Their Own Katherine H. Adams Poetry Desire Sally Keith Journey Kathleen Norris The Penultimate Suitor Mary Leader Women's Studies The Bitch Is Back Sarah Appleton Aguiar Haunting Violations Wendy S. Hesford and Wendy Kozol, editors Her Way Paula Kamen Immovable Laws, Irresistible Rights Christine Pierce Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart Betty De Shong Meador and Judy Grahn [forward by] Making It in the "Free World" Patricia O'Brien Mothering from the Inside Sandra Enos Mothers & Children Susan E. Chase and Mary F. Rogers Mrs. Stanton's Bible Kathi Kern The Promised Land? Lorna Martens Smoking & Pregnancy Laury Oaks Women Escaping Violence Elaine J. Lawless Women & Welfare Nancy J. Hirschmann and Ulrike Liebert, editors

Design, Sally Keith, Center for Literary Publishing, Colorado State Univ., $14.95 pb, 0-87081-603-9, 2001. ** Distributed by Univ. of Oklahoma Press **
Winner of the Colorado Prize for Poetry
**** Poetry

Manmade Breast Cancers, Zillah Eisenstein, Cornell Univ. Press, $17.95 pb, 0-8014-8707-2, or $39.95 cl, 0-8014-?, 2001.
The personal is fiercely political as Zillah Eisenstein holds the memoir of her family’s experience with breast cancer to the light of feminist and environmental understanding. Her perspectives show the ways in which race plays as a factor in breast cancers and political agendas and links prevention, treatment, and individual support to political change. **** Health & Medicine |Politics |Ecology & Environment

Mrs. Stanton’s Bible, Kathi Kern, Cornell Univ. Press, $39.95 cl, 0-8014-3191-3, 2001.
Though several printings of The Woman’s Bible have been available for some time, the story behind how this radical text came to be and the controversies it initiated have not been told. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a well-known feminist who first called for women's right to vote at the Seneca Falls convention, spent the last two decades of her life writing this work in an effort to pursue women’s liberation from religious oppression. This important history explores the radical viewpoints put forth by Stanton and portrays the turmoil among feminists who diverge on radical viewpoints. *** Women’s Studies |History |Spirituality/Religion

"My Heart Is a Large Kingdom": Selected Letters of Margaret Fuller, Robert N. Hudspeth, editor, Cornell Univ. Press, $29.95 cl, 0-8014-3747-4, 2001.
These letters to cultural figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Henry David Thoreu (among many) chronicles Margaret Fuller’s lifetime and offers glimpses into her feminist thought and literary temperament. **** Autobiography

Duke Univ. Press

Margaret Mead Made Me Gay: Personal Essays, Public Ideas, Esther Newton, Duke Univ. Press, $18.95 pb, 0-8223-2612-4, 2001.
Esther Newton grew up in suburban heterosexual womanhood but a reading of Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa brought her "out." This is Newton’s intellectual autobiography and chronicles the development of her ideas from early 1960s feminism through contemporary queer theory. These essays reveal academic homophobia and highlights the inner dialogs between personal and political, experience and theory, identities and practices. *** Gay/Lesbian Studies |Anthropology |Autobiography

Her Way: Young Women Remake the Sexual Revolution, Paula Kamen, New York University Press (NYU), $25.95 cl, 0-8147-4733-7, 2001.
Young women in the 20-and 30-something age group are doing it&emdash;"her way." It, of course, is sex. Kamen describes a Sexual Evolution in which young women are taking control of sex&emdash;whether their identities are straight, lesbian, bi, or trans&emdash;and creating their own sexual patterns and appetites. She describes these patterns as similar to those of men (age of first intercourse, numbers of sex partners, casual encounters, etc.) but creating their own distinct perspectives and asserting their own needs. In-depth interviews scattered through the text add to its readability. **** Women’s Studies |Sexuality

The Osteoporosis Book: A Guide for Patients and Their Families, Nancy E. Lane, M.D., Oxford Univ. Press, $27.50 cl, 0-19-511602-X, 2001.
One of the leading physicians in the field of osteoporosis, Nancy Lane provides current information on the medical breakthroughs helping doctors to more accurately predict who is at risk for this bone-weakening disease. This comprehensive book includes a description of the disease, information on diet and vitamins, recommended exercises and other other information for those who want to avoid, treat, or reverse the effects of osteoporosis. **** Health & Medicine |Aging

Mothers & Children: Feminist Analyses and Personal Narratives, Susan E. Chase and Mary F. Rogers, Rutgers Univ. Press, $25.00 pb, 0-8135-2876-3, or $55.00 cl, 0-8135-2875-5, 2001.
This feminist exploration of mothers, mothering, and motherhood combines summaries of empirical and theoretical work alongside personal narratives written by creative writers (some well-known) who also happen to be mothers or caregivers. under the overarching frames of social construction, maternal bodies and everyday life, topics includes "good" vs. "bad" mothering, pregnancy and childbirth, fathers, transitions, legal concerns, reproductive technology and so on. This results in a complex portrayal of the personal and social "realities" associated with motherhood and mothering. *** Women’s Studies |Social Sciences

Smoking & Pregnancy: The Politics of Fetal Protection, Laury Oaks, Rutgers Univ. Press, $22.00 pb, 0-8135-2888-7, or $52.00 cl, 0-8135-2887-9, 2001.
This book charts the emergence of smoking during pregnancy as a public health concern and social problem. Oaks considers the current trends towards antismoking campaigns and legal and social assertion of fetal personhood in light of individual responsibility emphasized by public health workers and the changing expectations of pregnant women. She also makes recommendations on how to discuss smoking with pregnant women in view of their daily lives and socioeconomic status. ** Women’s Studies |Social Sciences |Health & Medicine

Women & Welfare: Theory and Practice in the United States and Europe, Nancy J. Hirschmann and Ulrike Liebert, editors, Rutgers Univ. Press, $24.00 pb, 0-8135-2882-8, or $53.00 cl, 0-8135-2881-X, 2001.
This collection of writing includes experts from the fields of law, comparative politics, sociology, economics, cultural studies, philosophy and political theory to explore the recent changes in welfare politics of Western industrialized nations. Through interdisciplinary considerations and multicultural feminist approaches, what emerges are important analyses of welfare "reform," scrutiny of "woman-friendly" welfare states, and questions for feminist policy-making. ** Women’s Studies |Politics |International

The Bitch Is Back: Wicked Women in Literature, Sarah Appleton Aguiar, Southern Illinois Univ. Press, $17.95 pb, 0-8093-2362-1, 2001.
According to Aguiar, the bitch&emdash;village gossips, calculating gold-diggers, merciless backstabbers, sinful sirens, evil stepmothers, deadly daughters, twisted sisters, hags, bags, and crones&emdash; disappeared in the feminist novels of the second wave in the 1960s and 70s. However, in contemporary culture, the bitch is back. In looking at specific novels of Jane smiley, Fay Weldon, Margaret Atwood, and Toni Morrision Aguiar indicates that feminist writers and theorists are making substantial reevaluations of the archetypal bitch. ** Women’s Studies |Literary Criticism

A Group of Their Own: College Writing Courses and American Women Writers, 1880-1940, Katherine H. Adams, State Univ. of New York Pr. (SUNY), $21.95 pb, 0-7914-4936-X, 2001.
This is the fascinating story of the first generation of women who went to college to learn to be writers and then launched their careers writing poetry and prose. Members of this group included Elizabeth Bishop, Ruby Black, Pearl Buck, Emma Bugbee, Willa Cather, Zona Gale, Mildred Gilman, Zora Neale Hurston, Mary McCarthy, Marianne Moore, Eudora Welty, and Margaret Walker. *** Literature |Women’s Studies

Making It in the "Free World": Women in Transition from Prison, Patricia O’Brien, State Univ. of New York Pr. (SUNY), $18.95 pb, 0-7914-4862-2, 2001.
As with many studies, Men’s experiences are extrapolated to fit women’s lives. So it is with women who are leaving prison. As the numbers of women incarcerated increase, so will the number of women released to "freedom" increase. This important study addresses the neglected topic of how women return to the "free world" after single or multiple experiences of incarceration. Using first-person narrative, a comprehensive review of contemporary theory, and statistics concerning women’s incarceration this study makes useful suggestions to practitioners and policymakers responding to the increasing number of women going through the social justice system. *** Women’s Studies |Criminology |Social Sciences

Mothering from the Inside: Parenting in a Women’s Prison, Sandra Enos, State Univ. of New York Pr. (SUNY), $15.95 pb, 0-7914-4850-9, 2001.
SUNY now has a series on Women, Crime and Criminology edited by Meda Chesney-Lind and Russ Immarigeon. One of two books in the series this season (see also Making It in the "Free World"), the series now has four titles in total. The majority of incarcerated women are also mother of children under the age of 18 and this title addresses the creative and insistent ways in which these women continue to maintain motherhood and mothering from the inside. This study bases in research with inmates in a women’s prison and acknowledges the impact of race, ethnicity and marginality of women’s motherhood careers. It reveals how women manage, under challenging circumstances, to maintain contact with their children and actively provide for their care. *** Women’s Studies |Criminology |Parenting

The Promised Land?: Feminist Writing in the German Democratic Republic, Lorna Martens, State Univ. of New York Pr. (SUNY), $19.95 pb, 0-7914-4860-6, 2001.
This book looks at the works of Christa Wolf, Irmtraud Morgner, Sarah Kirsch, Brigitte Reimann, Charlotte Worgitzky, Lia Pirskawtz and Maya Wiens who are contemporary writers from the German Democratic Republic (GDR). They are viewed for their feminist ideas and how they are different from those of the Western feminist movement. ** Women’s Studies |Literary Criticism

Relocating the Personal: A Critical Writing Pedagogy, Barbara Kamler and Michelle Fine [forward by], State Univ. of New York Pr. (SUNY), $16.95 pb, 0-7914-4812-6, 2001.
For those looking for cross-fertilization between the fields of education and women’s studies/feminist pedagogy, this will be a useful and important book. Writing that involves personal reflection, knowledge of self, and the autobiographical has been growing a trend both in writing practice and, conversely, in building theory about cultures, events, and people. This book focuses on helping all kinds of learning writers to critically construct narratives that examine how experience is portrayed and how to write it differently. Writing then becomes a political project and Kamler argues for a notion of the personal which is not simply voice. **** Education |Writing

Women Administrators in Higher Education: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, Jana Nidiffer and Carolyn Terry Bradshaw, editors, State Univ. of New York Pr. (SUNY), $18.95 pb, 0-7914-4818-5, 2001.
"You got your history on my educational theory" could be the advertising slogan for this title in which the editors contend that historians and practitioners of women in higher education have much to contribute to each other’s work. Topics here include: women religious and lay presidents and their use of power; growth and development of deans of women; role of professional women’s organizations; and many others challenges. *** Education |Women’s Studies |History

Haunting Violations: Feminist Criticism and the Crisis of the "Real", Wendy S. Hesford and Wendy Kozol, editors, Univ. of Illinois Press, $19.95 pb, 0-252-06911-0, or $49.95 cl, 0-252-?, 2001.
What IS "real"? Haunting Violations offers viewpoints that contest the uncritical acceptance of the "real" as presented in confessional, testimonial, and ethnographic narratives. What becomes "real" when limited by the interests of specific personal, political, or social projects? How do cultural representations of the "real" reveal issues of power, authority, and resistance? This collection of essays explore the inseparability of discourse and politics. ** Women’s Studies |Politics

Univ. of Iowa Press

The Penultimate Suitor, Mary Leader, Univ. of Iowa Press, $13.00 pb, 0-87745-748-4, or $29.95 cl, 0-87745-765-4, 2001.
"Each poem turns upon and returns to the infuriating and glorious correlations between love and art. Learning to love, learning to make art, trying to make beauty, trying to be beauty&emdash;all these efforts call for passionate explorations in the schools of art and love."&emdash;from the cover copy **** Poetry

Women Escaping Violence: Empowerment through Narrative, Elaine J. Lawless, Univ. of Missouri Press, $17.50 pb, 0-8262-1319-7, or $32.50 cl, 0-8262-?, 2001.
I was at first annoyed by the cover copy of this title which states that "...most of us are not willing to acknowledge this private violence or talk about it openly" and this book "...brings women’s stories to the attention of the academy as well as the reading public." The tone and approach of the cover copy arrogantly ignores the past 20 years of substantial narrative and feminist writing on domestic violence. In any event, once I got past outrageous claim that Women Escaping Violence "offers the unique view of battered women’s stories told in their own words" (HELLO! - not the first time!), I did find Lawless’ efforts to be an important addition. Through compelling writing, personal reflection, the gathering of stories around common themes, and an analysis of how narrative can transform lives, this book makes a contribution to our understandings of domestic abuse that should not be overlooked. Ignore the cover copy which does the book a disservice and look deeper. **** Women’s Studies |Violence and Abuse

In a State of Memory, Tununa Mercado, Translated by Peter Kahn and With an introduction by Jean Franco, Univ. of Nebraska Press, $15.00` pb, 0-8032-8369-9, or $45.00 cl, 0-8032-3157-1, 2001.
"In a State of Memory is a novelistic memoir about exile, displacement, and return. Tunana Mercado explores the psychological and physical effects of the narrator’s transition into a life in exile: the splintering of her identity, the difficulties of incorporating herself into a host culture, her physical illness, and the haunting memories of her past and the loved one she left behind." &emdash;from the cover notes *** Fiction |International: Latin & Central America

Sarah Winnemucca, Sally Zanjani, Univ. of Nebraska Press, $29.95 cl, 0-8032-4917-9, 2001.
Sarah Winnemucca (1844-91) was born a Paiute in western Nevada and became one of the most influential and charismatic Native American women in U.S. history. This portrait traces her roles in conflicts between her tribe and US authorities, her public accomplishments, and her private relationships. **** Biography |History

Women’s Holocaust Writing: Memory and Imagination, S. Lillian Kremer, Univ. of Nebraska Press, $24.95 pb, 0-8032-7800-4, 2001.
Through an examination of the wrtings by Cynthia Ozick, Ilona Karmel, Elzúbieta Ettinger, Hana Demetz, Susan Fromberg Scaeffer, Norma Rosen, and Marge Piercy, this volume extends the understanding of women’s artistic representations for Holocaust and literary studies. Kremer uses history, psychology, women’s studies, literary analysis and interviews with the authors to give attention to the power of literary expression as it portrays women’s diverse experiences with the Holocaust. ** Literary Criticism |Multicultural: Jewish Women

Tall Woman: The Life Story of Rose Mitchell, a Navajo Woman, c. 1874-1977, Charlotte J. Frisbie, Univ. of New Mexico Press, $29.95 pb, 0-8263-2203-4, 2001.
Translated from her own words, this story portrays the vivid account of a Navajo woman who lived for more than 102 years in traditional life in spite of a harsh and challenging environment during a period of immeasurable change. *** Biography |Multicultural: Native-American |Anthropology

Tina Modotti: Image, Texture, Photography, Andrea Noble, Univ. of New Mexico Press, $29.95 cl, 0-8263-2254-9, 2001.
Many of the biographies of Tina Modotti focus on her political works and interesting love life. Noble’s book relooks at Modotti’s great volume of photography and draws on feminist theories and visual culture to understand her work in cultural, historical, and theoretical contexts. ** Arts: Art, Photography |Women’s Studies

Journey: New and Selected Poems 1969-1999, Kathleen Norris, Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, $16.95 pb, 0-8229-5761-2, 2001.
Most recently known for her works of spiritual non-fiction (Dakota, The Cloister Walk and Amazing Grace), this collection of poems by Kathleen Norris collects some of her earlier work that create a journey between the real and the surreal. **** Poetry

Maida Springer: Pan-Africanist and International Labor Leader, Yevette Richards, Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, $29.95 cl, 0-8229-4139-2, 2000.
"This is the first full-length biography to document and analyze the central role played by activist Maida Springer in international affairs, particularly in the formation of AFL-CIO’s African policy during the Cold War and African independence movements." &emdash; from the cover notes *** Biography |Politics |Multicultural: African-American

Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna, Betty De Shong Meador and Judy Grahn [forward by], Univ. of Texas Press, $22.95 pb, 0-292-75242-3, or $40.00 cl, 0-292-75241-5, 2001.
Enheduanna, who lived in ancient Mesopotamia (2300 BCE), was the earliest known author of written literature. She venerated Inanna above all others in the Sumerian pantheon. Betty De Shong Meador provides the complete tests of Enheduanna’s hymns and poems framed by the background of their religious and cultural backgrounds. This is a rich collection for those interested in the archetypal feminine or simply looking for meditations to a great goddess. *** Women’s Studies |Mythology & Folklore |History

The Lieutenant Nun: Transgenderism, Lesbian Desire, and Catalina de Erauso, Sherry Velasco, Univ. of Texas Press, $17.95 pb, 0-292-78746-4, or $35.00 cl, 0-292-78745-6, 2001.
Catalina de Erauso was a Basque noblewoman who escaped taking her final vows as a nun by leaving the convent dressed as a man and subsequently spent many years fighting for the Spanish Empire in Peru and Chile. Velasco’s analysis explores the ways in which literary, theatrical,iconographic and cinematic productions use Erauso’s life story to manipulate public fears and desires of transgenderism. *** Gender Studies |History

Bryher: Two Novels: Development and Two Selves, Bryher and edited by Joanne Winning, Univ. of Wisconsin Press, $19.95 pb, 0-299-16774-7, 2001.
Long out of print since their original publication in the 1920s, two of Bryher’s pioneering works of fictionalized autobiography, Development and Two Selves, are once again available. Born Annie Winifred Ellerman, Bryher is perhaps best known as the life-long partner of H.D. She was also a central figure in modernist and avant-garde cultural experimentation and a intimate of such artists as Gertrude Stein, Marianne Moore, and Dorothy Richardson. **** Literature |Lesbian Studies |Autobiography

In Praise of Black Women, Volume 1: Ancient African Queens, Simone Schwarz-Bart, with André Schwarz-Bart and forward by Howard Dodson, Univ. of Wisconsin Press, $60.00 cl, 0-299-17250-3, 2001.
WOW! What an incredibly beautiful book! Full of color plates and readable text, storytelling and historical sidebars, this volume covers the lives and cultures of 18 African Queens, both well-known and unknown. Unfortunately, its size and price limit its usefulness only to resource centers and libraries, or to people who can afford coffee table books. The stories and pictures will appeal intergenerationally to many people but it’s very heavy and hard to hold. As an educator and bookseller at heart, I would wish this volume were available in 18 separate boxed storybook format volumes (like a Times Life series) which could extend its overall accessibility. However, I look forward to the future volumes in the series. **** International: Africa |History |Women’s Studies |Arts: Art, Photography

Out of the Dead House: Nineteenth-Century Women Physicians and the Writing of Medicine, Susan Wells, Univ. of Wisconsin Press, $22.95 pb, 0-299-17174-4, 2001.
Out of the Dead House is an unusual title&emdash;but this is an unusual book. The dead house refers to the morgues of the late 19th century and it is there that young Marie Zakrzewska became intrigued with the study of midwifery and surgery. This book rediscovers the contributions of women in the late 19th century&emdash;writers of self-help books, social and political essays, fiction and poetry and developers of medical recored-keeping and research&emdash;who significantly affected the practice of medicine and women’s contributions to medical science. ** Health & Medicine |Women’s Studies |Science and women

You’re Not from Around Here, Are You?: A Lesbian in Small-Town America, Louise A. Blum, Univ. of Wisconsin Press , $19.95 pb, 0-299-17094-2, or $49.95 cl, 0-299-?, 2001.
"Move to a big city" used to be the words of wisdom for lesbians and gays as we made our ways out of the closet. Not so, Louise Blum and her partner, Connie, who not only moved to a small town in the Appalachia area of Pennsylvania but who also decided to have a child. Written with intelligence and wit, this memoir explores the rewards and struggles, comforts and terrors of lesbians living in small town America and creating their own "family values." **** Lesbian Studies |Autobiography |Parenting

Immovable Laws, Irresistible Rights: Natural Law, Moral Rights, and Feminist Ethics, Christine Pierce, Univ. Press of Kansas, $29.95 cl, 0-7006-1070-7, 2001.
Natural law vs. moral rights. Same-sex partnerships and marriage. Pregnancy through in vitro fertilization. Ending one’s own life with dignity. Liberating animals. Feminist separatism. These are several of the many ongoing debates and issues of concern to modern feminism, legal theory, and postmodern critique. With passion for human rights and knowledge of legal philosophy and engagement with moral concerns ways, these readable essays explore ways in which to constitute thoughtful grounding for ethical decisions in human affairs. *** Women’s Studies |Ethics |Law

Mormon Healer & Folk Poet: Mary Susannah Fowler’s Life of "Unselfish Usefulness", Margaret K. Brady, Utah State Univ. Press, $19.95 pb, 0-87421-400-9, 2000.
This book reconstructs the life of Mary Susannah Fowler (1862-1920) &emdash;a polygampous wife and mother, active member of the communal settlement, and a healer&emdash;through her manuscript diary, folk poetry, and essays. *** History |Biography

Copyright April, 2001 • Mev Miller, editor, Feminist Academic Press Column

Return to FAPC Homepage