Woman Writer

Founded by a man, Joseph Snell Wood, in May 1894, the Society of Women Writers could never claim to be a politically 'feminist' organisation. In its early days the Society primarily attracted lady journalists, later to be joined by novelists and poets. A great surge of more than 200 flocked to its first meetings. Given the small number of women in journalism must have applied for membership. Certainly the great names of Victorian media were there, such as Lady Sarah Wilson who reported from Mafeking on the Boer War, and Alice Meynell, who almost became the first female Poet Laureate. To celebrate the centenary of the birth of the SWWJ's much-loved president for twenty-two years, Joyce Grenfell, Sylvia Kent has interviewed and researched some of the world's most famous members. Along with 100 fascinating photographs, this tells the full history of the Society, and is a must-read for women writers everywhere.