#UoBWomen: The women before me
Written by Natalie D'Allura
Knowing that Women’s History Month was coming up, I spent February wondering what to write about that might serve as inspiration for other women. As I reflected on my own experience of womanhood, I realised that every part of my life as a woman — every lesson I’ve learned, every brave choice I’ve made, every endeavour I’ve pursued — has been touched by another woman who has taught me that lesson, encouraged me to trust my instincts, believed in my abilities. Each of these women, too, have been taught, encouraged by, and believed by other women.
This is the beautiful cycle of womanhood: women passing down wisdom and encouraging future generations of women to be even more self-assured and bold and impassioned than the last. So instead of writing about my own life, I spent the past week speaking with three women, each with a story and experience uniquely her own, who have inspired me since I moved to Birmingham.
Dr Rosy Mack
On the first day of Dr Rosy Mack’s ‘The Social Life of Literature’ seminar, I was instantly captivated by her passion for publishing. She has so much knowledge about The Women’s Press in particular and takes any opportunity she can to encourage her students to think critically about the type of literature that they feel passionately about. She has certainly inspired me to research various interests of mine, so I wondered where she finds inspiration and encouragement to pursue her own research.
Rosy: “Academic mentors have been super important, as have wonderful comrades during the PhD programme, other book historians, kind librarians and archivists, patient students, and especially my dad, who would always validate the project’s value and consistently encourage me to get the book written”.
In every encounter I have had with her, Dr Rosy Mack has seemed entirely confident and sure of herself. I asked her if she had a word of advice for young women so that they might build up the same confidence.
Rosy: “Make space for the weird, nerdy, fangirl things you really love, let them sustain and energise you. It’s so easy to get discouraged and dissuaded from doing things your way, but it can be so rewarding if you trust yourself”.
Freya Calcluth
Freya Calcluth and I met working on an anthology for the University’s DIY Arts Festival. During one of the project meetings, she shared her experience self-publishing her collection, The New Romantics. I have since read some of her poetry, and it is beautifully personal and honest. We spoke about the vulnerability of sharing your art with others.
Freya: “I'm quite an open book of a person, which you have to be if you want people to read about your feelings”.
I mentioned how impressed I am that she took the step to self-publish, and she told me about why she felt that this was the right choice for her.
Freya: “I know I want to become a professional writer and I want to be published, so until the time comes I can traditionally do that, I'll take matters into my own hands”.
Peta Goodman
Upon my first visit to Winterbourne Press, Peta Goodman showed me around the little building at the edge of the gardens. She taught me about the old printing presses used there and encouraged me to volunteer to learn more. Now she has started teaching me the trade. As we roll out ink and sort type into its cases, she tells me stories. I enjoy them in content as much as I do the way that she tells them, weaving together scenes of time and place and emotion. During the interview, she shared with me the beginnings of her love of storytelling.
Peta: “It’s one of the joys of being a woman. I remember my mother having her friends round…there would be tons of just [chattering] about blokes and husbands and things like this and swapping recipes and talking about things that were happening, always the knitting needles clicking at the same time”.
I asked her how she feels that women benefit from sharing stories about their lives with one another.
Peta: “They will be given those messages, watch where you walk, remember who you’re with, look before you leap. All that sort of stuff is just keeping women safe…Men don’t have these conversations that women have…They’re not taught to reflect, but women are”.
After a week of conversations
I’m convinced that every woman who has inspired me in any way is an essential part of my story and that each woman who has inspired them is an essential part of theirs. I encourage you to ask the women in your life questions about their passions, their lessons learned, their experiences. There is endless wisdom to be found in the stories of women.