This blog post really made me think. I agree with you that putting our toes out of that much-vaunted, almost mythical solitude is often necessary to get the writerly energy going. When I have TOO much aloneness, it's energy-draining, just as too...

Wow--a toughie!! I'm not completely sure if I'm pro- or anti- men-on-the-She-Writes site. I think I come down that it's better NOT to exclude men in general, although to vet profiles and activities on the site very carefully. BUT some niggle in my...

Thank you SO much for this important listing. I don't think I've read anything by an Iraqi or Afghan woman, and this makes me want to aim to do so. I'll also check out Belletrista--what a beautiful name! Naomi

What a great idea! I highly recommend The Little School by Alicia Partnoy, her accounting of being a "desaparacida" in Argentina in the 70s--moving, gritty, sad, beautifully and lightly written, and--cliched as it sounds--still full of hope. Her...