Battle of the books (and sexes): Why women writers – and women’s writing – are still overlooked and undervalued after four decades of feminism

Why is it that women writers – and women’s writing – continue to be overlooked and undervalued?

In 1929, Gray and Munroe first reported a gender gap: women … read more novels … attend more book clubs … make more use of libraries … buy more books … take more creative writing courses … and probably write more works of fiction – than men. They also read more crime books and make up more than half the world’s crime and mystery writers, but whatever the genre, they don’t get the reviews, promotion, recognition, awards or dollars.

Some still believe they will sell better if they publish under their initials (P M, Y A, L A, J M, P D) or a male pseudonym (Robert Galbraith – J K Rowling’s crime nom de plume), and that they are more likely to win prizes with male protagonists and male themes. Do we need a year of publishing women only? Do we need more awards such as the Stellas and the Davitts?

What is to be done? In honour of International Women’s Day, Sisters in Crime National Co-convenor Ann Byrne will debate these issues with Aviva Tuffield, Jane Sullivan and Natalie Kon-yu.

It’s a Stella(r) line up:

Aviva Tuffield is executive director and co-founder of the Stella Prize and a publisher at Black Inc. She has been a publisher at Affirm Press; associate publisher at Scribe Publications, where she built an award-winning Australian fiction list; and deputy editor at Australian Book Review. In 2015 she was one of Westpac/AFR’s 100 Women of Influence and a finalist in the NAB Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards (Change Champion) for her work with the Stella Prize.

Jane Sullivan writes Turning Pages, a column about books and writing in the Saturday Age. Her latest novel is Little People(Scribe). She is a long-time supporter of Sisters in Crime, has been a judge of its Davitt Awards and is currently working on a crime novel set in 1868 Melbourne.

Natalie Kon-Yu is a creative writer, editor and academic at Victoria University, with a particular focus on the creative writing by women and feminist literary criticism. She is currently working on a project examining the representation of women in the Australian publishing industry.

Ann Byrne is Sisters in Crime’s book review editor and is a Board member of Oxfam Australia, LUCRF Super, ECPAT International and the Black Rock Investment Management Compliance  Committee. Byrnealso sponsors the Scarlet Stiletto Best Financial Crime Award.

Venue: The Rising Sun Hotel (upstairs – no lift), cnr Raglan Street and Eastern Road, South Melbourne. Melways map 57 H2; free on-street parking after 6 pm; trams 1, 12 or 55 or St Kilda Road trams

Tickets: $10 Sisters in Crime and Writers Victoria members/concession; $15 non-members

Tickets not sold prior to the event will be available at the door for $12/$17

Dinner upstairs from 6.30 pm (bookings not necessary); men or ‘brothers-in-law’ welcome

Click here to book with Eventbrite.

Sun Bookshop stall: members receive a 10% discount

Additional information: Carmel Shute 0412 569 356; cshute@internode.on.net