Roxane Gay Instagram – For the past several years, I’ve been working on The Portable Feminist Reader, a collection of feminist scholarship across centuries, and that book is finally out today with @penguinclassics!
When my amazing editor Elda Rotor first approached me, I was excited about the project but also overwhelmed by the daunting task. How do you begin to choose a range of texts that articulate interesting ideas about feminism given the bounty from which I had to choose?
As I went into the project, I thought a lot about canon and who gets to determine what is or is not canonical. And rather than do a disservice to the scope of global feminism, I focused primarily on American feminists. I also wanted to include pieces that reflect feminist praxis, diverse cultural identities, the importance of intersectionality and even some poetry.
I crowdsourced suggestions, drew from my own knowledge, researched and spent about three years reading a lot of feminist writing. Over time, I winnowed down a rich trove of feminist thought into this reader. At the rear, you will find suggestions for further reading, listening, watching, and engaging.
I hope you check the Portable Feminist Reader out, and I hope it sparks conversation. In the meantime, I am going on a book tour and I hope you can make it to one of the events! Tonight, I’ll be at @harvardbookstore in Boston. Tomorrow, I’ll be at @wbezchicago in Chicago. And on April 4, I’ll be at @powerhousearena in New York.
You can read more about the reader, my process, the tour, and the long list of people who helped make this book possible at The Audacity (link here and in my stories: https://audacity.substack.com/p/new-book-out-today-the-portable-feminist. And if you’d like a sneak peek at the book itself, my introduction is up at Lithub today, and you’ll find a link to that piece also at The Audacity. | Posted on 26/Mar/2025 00:23:02
