DEADLINE JANUARY 10, 2003
   
We are working on a new Crimethinc book by women, about women, and for
everybody.  This is not a book about gender, although gender will be
addressed: this is a big shaggy compendium of inspiring, useful,
thought-provoking writing and art about all the things that we as radical
anarchist women are interested in. 

Like what?

Community building, trainhopping, anti-racism, love, how to construct a log
cabin, how to alter a billboard, how to start a collective, aging, DIY mental
health, badass women throughout history, patriarchy, childbirth, pornography,
sewing, capitalism… basically anything you’ve ever wished you could find in
a book like this. And that’s exactly where you come in: we won’t know what
belongs in the book until you send it to us.  We are looking for writing and
art—your own, your grandmother’s, your favorite artist’s and author’s,
scraps of letters pulled out of your neighbor’s trash—for us to begin with. 
On the weekend of January 10, 2003 a group of us will lay everything we’ve
got out on a long table and begin to make editorial decisions.  Once that’s
done we may solicit more contributions based on what we do or don’t have, but
the contents of the book will largely be shaped by the things you send in.
Don’t wait until the last minute!  Start right now sending us all the things
you’ve been waiting to see in somebody else’s book, and ask all the other
women in your life to do the same.

Wait, before I get involved I’ve got a few questions. Why is this a
“women’s book”?  Doesn’t that just perpetuate the idea that gender is a
fixed identity? How do you define “woman” anyway?

First of all, this is not a “women’s book” in the sense that it is about
being a woman.  This is a book that happens to be by women, about all the
things that fascinate and inspire us.  After all, plenty of books are written
by men without being “men’s books”; this will be the same.  Look on it as an
experiment in what happens when you filter all the things you care about
through the collective experience of being a woman.  To us “woman” is a
self-identified term—transgendered people are very welcome to be part of the
project.

You keep talking about “we”.  Who are you?

The idea for the book originated with three women who met in Olympia,
Washington last summer—Asi, Jen and Amber.  They approached three other women
who live in Greensboro, NC—Stef, Kate and Liz.  Because the three women in
Olympia were all in transit it made sense for Greensboro to become the
central organizing spot for the book.  The six of us in the core collective
are all in our late teens or early 20s—with the exception of Liz, who is in
her early 50s; we are all white, all American—with the exception of Asi, who
is from Sweden; we are all physically able, have had a variety of sexual
experiences, share a radical anarchist perspective.  We recognize that all of
those qualities and experiences will also serve as filters for the book, so
we are particularly eager to hear from voices that are different from our
own.  Our email addresses are included below.

Why is this a Crimethinc book?

All of us have been involved in Crimethinc projects in the past; that’s one
of the things that brought us together. More than that, however, we believe
that Crimethinc has brought some very important ideas into the public
discussion and has done a very good job of helping people connect with their
own feelings and desires.  Days of War, Nights of Love has motivated many
people to take a look at their lives and make changes; the question, once
those changes begin to take hold is “What happens next?”  Evasion provided
one possible answer.  Our book will provide others.

On more practical terms, Crimethinc is widely known and has a good strong
distribution system, both of which will help us get our book out there. 
Although this book will not be “published” by Crimethinc—Crimethinc is not a
publisher—we will certainly get advice from the people who have been involved
in the production and distribution of other Crimethinc projects. 
Financially, the book will be self-sustaining; if it makes a profit that
money will be used by the women’s book collective to fund other projects.

So….?

So, get busy!  Start sending things in—COPIES, NOT ORIGINALS!—by January 10:

Book Project
406 N. Mendenhall St.
Greensboro, NC 27401

Or email to:

Amber: l1ttles1ster@yahoo.com
Asi: asimina@hotmail.com
Jen: calico@crimethinc.net
Kate: joanofarcinflames@yahoo.com
Liz: hobbldhoy@aol.com
Stef: stef@crimethinc.com

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