International Women's Day

To celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8th March, we posted five of our favourite female authors over five different days on Instagram - because International Women’s Day is really everyday. Below is the selection of photos and descriptions of exactly why we are in awe of these women.

First up, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. If you haven’t already listened to her TEDx talk ‘Why We Should All Be Feminists’, then we highly recommend doing so. The TEDx talk, viewed over 3 million times, was adapted into a book-length essay, which we think should be made a mandatory read in all schools. At only 52 pages it can easily be read on your commute to work, in a lunch break, or before bed. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie won the Orange Prize for her novel ‘Half of the Yellow Sun’ in 2007, amongst countless other awards, and her work has been translated into thirty different languages. We are bursting with admiration and respect for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and can’t wait to read all of her books, which will be featuring heavily on our website.

‘I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and for my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness, because I deserve to be.’ - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

The second female writer we are in awe of is the award-winning British journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge. Her book Why I’m No Longer Talk To White People About Race is an extremely relevant and necessary book expressing frustrations about the way in which racism is dealt with in Britain. Eddo-Lodge’s emotional exasperation on the topic manifests itself in a convincing and rational explanation of existing race relations today. With succinct chapters covering an eradicated British black history, white privilege, systematic racism, feminism and the inextricable links between class and race, she creates an accessible and essential read describing the types of racism inherent in our society, and how to acknowledge and counter them.

Our third writer is Madeline Miller who won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2012 for her international best-seller ‘The Song of Achilles’. Miller did her BA and MA in Classics at Brown University. For the last 15 years she has tutored Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students. Madeline Miller’s new book ‘Circe’ come out on April 10th 2018 and has already received rave reviews, being hailed the ‘must-read book of 2018’ by The Guardian, The Independent, the Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Express and Stylist. We loved becoming completely lost in the world’s Miller creates out of traditional Greek myths (Circe is inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, and The Song of Achilles on the Trojan War). By mixing imagination and intellect in her writing, the reader becomes immersed in these tales and their characters - and shows why Miller is such a huge inspiration to us! The Song of Achilles is our first Book of the Month. Read our review here!

Mary Beard is an English scholar, author, classicist, journalist, editor and TV presenter - to list only her most well-known achievements. A national treasure - some might say that Mary Beard is to academics as David Attenborough is to nature. Our favourite of her works is Women and Power: A Manifesto, an approachable yet educational book about the history of disenfranchised and silenced women, using a wide range of examples from ancient classical history to modern day society. A self-proclaimed and dedicated feminist, Mary Beard is the prime example of a woman who has never let her gender limit her education, her career, or her life goals. A Guardian article describes her as beloved ‘by anyone who wants to be seen in terms of their ideas, not their looks; anyone who think it’s cool to be smart’. If you’re interested in seeing more of the wonderful woman, we highly recommend her new BBC documentary, Civilisations.

Last but definitely not least, Zadie Smith is a British novelist, essayist and short-story writer. We fell in love with her writing after reading her internationally best-selling novel ‘White Teeth’, which she wrote in her time off from revising for her Cambridge finals. Set in North London, the story of how the lives of three different families collide; tackling themes of faith, race, gender, history and culture. 'Outstanding ... A strikingly clever and funny book with a passion for ideas, for language and for the rich tragic-comedy of life' Sunday Telegraph. Zadie Smith’s ‘Feel Free’, a collection of essays commenting on our cultural climate, is her latest publication, which is now available in soft back, and we can’t wait to read it!