It started during a moment of exasperation in August 2009. Cate Marvin had proposed a panel for the annual Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. The topic? Contemporary American women's poetry. The idea was rejected. So she drafted and circulated an e-mail to women authors.
"Why can't we have an organization of female writers (poets, fiction, creative nonfiction writers) that has a conference every year?" she wrote. "Where ... writers of women's lit can get together and talk about issues that affect our work as women?"
The result was VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, and it's having a reading event Tuesday night in San Francisco to raise money.
The fundraiser has a stellar linuep -- including Marvin and Erin Belieu, the two who founded VIDA - as well as Kim Addonizio (reading in the clip above), Susan Steinberg, and Cheryl Strayed, most of whom are on the nonprofit organization's board of directors.
It would be difficult to argue VIDA wasn't needed. Publishers Weekly's Top 10 Books of 2009 included no women, Forbes' list of the top 10 highest-paid authors included only three women, and there has forever been a shortage of women's bylines in major publications.One of the resources on VIDA's website is called The Count: a go-to guide for exactly such statistics. If you're not already taking notice, peruse this account of 2010 stats -- it's overwhelming.
A Night of Readings to Benefit VIDA: Women in Literary Arts starts at 7 p.m. at the Make-Out Room. Admission is $10.
For more events in San Francisco this week and beyond, check out our calendar section.
