Registration Open: And Thanks to Zero Books

It is with great pleasure that I declare registration officially open! We have sent registration forms to all delegates and to those on our mailing list. Please drop us an email at smashingthepatriarchy[at]gmail.com if you haven't received your form - or if you would like to be added to our mailing list.

Also, thanks to Zero Books who have sent us copies of Laurie Penny's Meat Market: Female Flesh Under Capitalism and Nina Power's One Dimensional Woman among others. We are building up quite a collection of books to raffle for Women's Aid and WRASAC. We have also been gifted some Scottish lesbian Victorian poetry, There is Room for Roses in God's World by Bessie Craigmyle.

Thanks to Virago!

I have taken delivery of a beautiful collection of books from Virago who are celebrating their 40th birthday this year. The introduction to their 'Virago is 40' ebook is here and it's quite inspirational. We have a physical copy of 'Virago is 40' for our raffle, as well as titles by Margaret Atwood, Muriel Spark and Sarah Dunant among others.

Charity Raffle - Thanks to Icon Books!

We've been brainstorming ways to integrate activism into our event and one of the ideas we had was to have a raffle for Women's Aid and a local charity, the Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (WRASAC) Tayside. And how do we make this raffle academic? Well, we're going to raffle off some of the amazing feminist books that have come out in the UK over the last few years.

Thanks go to Icon Books who have very generously sent us copies of Delusions of Gender and Introducing Feminism: A Graphic Guide. We'll let you know some of the other titles that will be included in the raffle as we receive them so that you can start getting excited about the great prizes that we'll have on offer.

In other news, registration will be opening very soon. We will be emailing all delegates about this automatically; if you didn't get an abstract in, but you want to be kept up to date about registration etc. then drop us an email at smashingthepatriarchy[at]gmail.com and we'll add you to our mailing list. That way, you'll be kept in the loop and you won't miss out on what is shaping up to be a great day of sisterhood and books.

Abstract Deadline and Webzine Article

So, the abstract deadline has passed. Thanks so much for all of your contributions. Laura and I are planning to go through them over the next few days and start to put together an exciting day of thinking, speaking and getting to know each other. If you missed our deadline but still want to attend then please drop us an email on smashingthepatriarchy[at]gmail.com, we can always add you to our mailing list and give you all the latest information, including links to register once registration opens.
In other news, there is now an article about the conference online, published at Bad Housekeeping. Bad Housekeeping is a new webzine that covers feminist issues from an academic perspective so many of you might be interested in checking them out, or submitting an article.

Facebook

If your social media platform of choice is facebook then, good news! We are now smashing the patriarchy on facebook too. Just search for 'Smashing the Patriarchy in 100,000 Words?' and you should find us. There are still 11 days to go if you want to submit an abstract and our CfP is available here, or on the facebook page.

Feminist Academics Nottingham

Thanks very much to Feminist Academics Nottingham who have featured our call to papers on their blog. Groups such as these have been an effective way of getting the word out so far - when organising an inter-disciplinary event such as this it can be difficult to make sure you're targeting all the people who will find your CfP of interest. If you know of any other groups we should contact, please tweet or email smashingthepatriarchy[at]gmail[dot]com. We've already had some great advice from people who have come across our CfP, it feels great to be connecting with feminist networks from around the country. Thanks again, sisters!

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Julia Long

It gives us great pleasure to announce our second keynote speaker. Dr. Julia Long is a radical feminist activist working with groups such as OBJECT and the London Feminist Network. She is the author of Anti-Porn: The Resurgence of Anti-Pornography Feminism, described by Professor Gail Dines as 'a book that not only eloquently speaks to the past, but importantly, paves the way for a radical future where the sexual dehumanization of women is no longer normalized, celebrated, or legitimized. This book is a must for every person who is fed up with the objectification of women's bodies, and wants to take back our culture from the pornographers.' Dr. Long achieved degrees in English Literature and Women's Studies before completing her PhD in feminist activism at London South Bank University in 2011. She has made media appearances on This Morning, Newsnight, and Channel 4's 4Thought TV. Dr. Long's position as both an activist and an academic makes her an ideal speaker for our conference and we're so excited to welcome her to Dundee.