talk: Ethel Carnie Holdsworth with Jenny Harper
Saturday 21st May
in the shop - 3pm - author talk - free entry
Please register via Eventbrite if you wish to attend so we know how many people to expect.
As part of Feminist Book Fortnight, join Jenny Harper in the shop to learn about Ethel Carnie Holdsworth
Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, was one of the first British working-class women to be published. Born in 1886 and despite a prolific career as a poet, novelist and journalist, and having even produced a best-seller (Helen of Four Gates), she died in 1962 almost entirely forgotten. Not only a great writer, but also a fierce social activist who campaigned for the equal rights of women, against British involvement in WW1, and against compulsory conscription as a staunch pacifist. In the 1920s she edited an anti-fascist journal The Clear Light. Through her powerful writing she sought to change opinion when it came to important issues such as poverty, class and gender prejudice and the poor conditions that workers laboured under in the cotton mills at the time.
Jenny Harper is a University of Southampton alumna, and recently completed her English MA at the university, before embarking on a collaborative PhD project at the University of Reading. This is a SWW DTP-funded PhD project in conjunction with Pendle Radicals and Mid Pennine Arts to recover, research, and celebrate this great writer who is of both literary and historical significance. Jenny has lived in Southampton for 25 years, although her Lancashire ancestors were working-class millworkers like Ethel Carnie Holdsworth.
Please register via Eventbrite for instructions to join and to help us with book ordering and to manage numbers on the shop floor. We are operating with Covid caution here at October Books, so please respect your fellow attendees by maintaining some distance. We are requesting that people attending events/gatherings in the shop please wear a face covering - to ensure all people feel safe. This is a free entry event, but if you'd like to sling October Books a donation, please do.
If you would like to reserve a copy of ‘Helen Of Four Gates’ by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth to collect from the shop please email us at info@octoberbooks.org
If you would like to order a copy for delivery to your door, you can do so here.
Find out more about Jenny Harper on these social channels - Twitter: @jennyaharper1
Find out more about Feminist Book Fortnight - Twitter: @FeministBk22 FB: @feministbookfortnight
