Women in Print 1: Design and Identities: 2 (Printing History and Culture)

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Figure 4.1. Olive Branch, 12 November 1836, frontmatter. Image courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society Collection. Covid, whilst challenging, has allowed us the opportunity to leap out of the 90s and jump headlong into the 21 st century in terms of smarter working practices. Enforced home working, combined with the greater burden of childcare, has really road tested the opportunity for flexible working and proven that it is possible, although challenging, to do both roles. I feel like a lot of women are raised to be very humble, and when people give us compliments, we’re supposed to be like, ‘Oh, no, it’s not that big a deal’,” said Sutanto. “Yesterday, my husband said to our five-year-old, ‘Mama did an amazing thing, she is certified the funniest female author in an entire country’. And my five-year-old was like, wow, and I said ‘Oh, no, Papa is just exaggerating’. He said, ‘I’m literally not’, and then it hit me and I had to have a moment because that’s just too big. I needed to have a moment to let it sink in.” A 1- 6 minute film that can take the form of anything comical. It’s a great opportunity to show us your creative flair and have fun! Marian Keyes, Chair of Judges for the CWIP Published Novels Prize, says: “I am absolutely delighted with our longlist. The range is glorious – everything from lighthearted commercial fiction to literary fiction – it’s a demonstration of all the different ways in which women can be funny in print. It was a pleasure and very exciting to read all ninety submissions, and this is a list that I’m very proud of.”

Choice Type’ and ‘Elegant Founts’: Advertising in Elizabeth Heard’s Truro Printing Office (Patricia Thomas) Men and women writers have long been treated differently. The industry is riven with bias – both insidious and documented. Publishers in the 60s were taking Tom Sharpe and Malcolm Bradbury to lunch and paying far less attention to the talents of Barbara Pym and Katharine Whitehorn. And The Emilia Report into the Gender Gap for Authors in 2019 studied how male and female writers in the same markets were received. Female Agency in the Social Network of the Early Modern English Print Trade, c.1623–41 (Joseph Saunders)

That said, some women will still prefer to work in the office with the opportunities for learning and social intercourse which that offers. The pandemic will have helped individuals to identify how they work best and what motivates them to work aside from income. My guess is that many businesses will offer “blended” or “hybrid” options. These women have built legacies that have aided and inspired generations of women. From writers like Shelagh Delaney to political reformists such as Amy Ashwood Garvey; from the Pankhursts to comedy legend Victoria Wood the work of women from the north of England has and continues to shape the world we live in today. The editors of Women in Print 2 are indebted to several individuals and organizations for both contributing to and supporting the book. The chapters were originally a set of papers delivered at the University of Birmingham on 13 and 14 September 2018. Organized by the Centre for Printing History & Culture, the conference, ‘Women in Print’, was designed to review and reassess the contribution made by women to printing and print culture from its origins to the present day. We were convinced that the contributors deserved a wider audience and were pleased that Peter Lang Ltd were keen to publish an edited collection in two volumes on the subject as part of its ‘Printing History and Culture’ series. Our main thanks are due to the individual authors of the chapters in this volume who accepted advice, responded to requests for changes to their drafts and supplied the images to illustrate their chapters. The Unpublished Novel Winner is published by Harper Collins and receive an advance and huge attention. The Unpublished runner upper's win a place on an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Hertfordshire and an MA in Comedy at Falmouth University.

The acceptance of remote and more flexible working enforced by the pandemic certainly creates a working environment that women - as the most traditional carers of children and elderly parents - can thrive in. The 9-5 routine with daily commute has morphed into a more fluid work day where women can more easily balance the demands on their time. One can only hope that the tradition of full-time office working does not re-emerge and that more flexible arrangements will continue for women to stay in the workplace for longer and therefore further their careers.” The demographic of our workforce strongly swings towards men, mostly due to the roles on the shopfloor which have historically been done by men. I would be delighted if we could balance this out and have a more equal split between men and women, however when recruiting we are always looking for the best person for the job in question, someone who shows both aptitude and the right attitude, which makes their gender irrelevant. The day is marked globally on 8 March, and aims to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE: Day One, G33 Small Lecture Theatre, School of Education, University of Birmingham; Day Two, Lecture Room 3, Arts Building, University of BirminghamAlthough print is a fairly male dominated industry, I do think there are many opportunities for women, and it is an inclusive industry. I hope that more young women will look at print as a career and be welcomed into the industry just as I was nine years ago.” Printweek asked a selection of women in print about their thoughts on International Women’s Day, after a year like no other. Hungarian Women in Scottish Print: Stephanie Wohl’s Occasional Correspondence in The Scotsman (Zsuzsa Török) Figure 1.1. Fragment of a broadside on the Popish and Meal-Tub Plots and other events of the time; with eight of twelve scenes: Popish Damnable Plot against Our Religious and Liberties, Lively Delineated in Several of Its Branches, With an Account of the Manner of the Execution of William Viscount Stafford on Tower-Hill. London, 1680. Reproduced by permission from the British Museum.

Whenever I talked to business leaders in our industry about working flexibly, they often dismissed it as not practical for print companies. But working through Covid has shown that we can work from home or work part time/adjusted hours and still deliver, so I really hope that some of that continues as we head towards to a new normal. Hopefully one where it’s easier for women (and indeed men) to agree a format of flexible working with their employers that’s a win for both parties and means that we can truly tap into the female talent in our industry and even help us attract more.” Lucy Melville, Global Publishing Director and Head of Editorial at Peter Lang, has been an enthusiastic, helpful and responsive guide and her team have efficiently and effectively guided the project through from manuscript to final product. Women in Print 2 reflects the efforts and expertise of many people. We hope that the publication justifies their commitment and not only provides ←xi | xii→ a reflection of the importance of women in print but also encourages further research into the history of women in the printing trade.

Comedy Women In Print is the brainchild of comedian, author, actress Helen Lederer. Its aim is to recognise, celebrate and encourage witty women authors. We’ve created a platform for both aspiring and established witty writers. CWIP not only offers a publishing deal with Harper fiction to a NEW witty writer, but it also gives mega publicity and respect to the BEST funny fiction around. Late Nineteenth-Century Periodical Texts and Paratexts: The Women’s Penny Paper/Woman’s Herald (1888–92) (Artemis Alexiou) If you have a short film or sketch that you think is hilarious, then enter your work for our Comedy Shorts Award to be in with a chance of winning some life-changing support and mentoring from comedy professionals. With the shift to remote working, now more than ever companies have been looking at technological solutions to aid their print procurement. We’re making the industry more inviting to all walks of life including women, younger people and those currently in other sectors. I think it’s a great opportunity for everybody, especially those who we have struggled to entice into the industry over the years.” KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Dr Nadine Chahine ( Type Designer); Ann Field(Marx Memorial Library, London); Professor Helen Smith ( Director, Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, University of York)

I’m really excited about the shortlist because I think this really showcases different ways that women are funny,” said Keyes, who together with judges including the comedian Lolly Adefope also shortlisted Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare, Michelle Gallen’s Big Girl, Small Town, Angela Makholwa’s The Blessed Girl, and Abbi Waxman’s The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. coming-of-age and contemporary narratives, the list proves there’s no single formula for funny fiction. Our staff who are based in production roles haven’t been able to work from home but there has still been a need for more flexibility with working hours as people have needed time off for childcare, appointments and time to support family members who have been isolating. This flexibility will continue into the future and I suppose it could be argued that a more flexible way of working within production will create more opportunities for women if they have constraints on their working hours due to home life, but again, this is the same for men. The Published Novel Winner gets a massive amount of love from clever, celebrity judges and a stonking cash prize. Women in Print is a collection of essays in two related volumes which considers the diversity of roles occupied by women in the design, authorship, production, distribution and consumption of printed material from the fifteenth century onwards.

I am supportive of Women’s Day, and recognise its importance in celebrating the achievements of women, however I personally have been exceptionally fortunate to be in an industry, and worked for two key players in that industry, St Ives and CPI, who have not made gender an issue, in any way. I won’t pretend it hasn’t been challenging balancing working and bringing up my daughter, however the support I got made it possible for me to succeed. Women in Print is a collection of essays in two related volumes which considers the diversity of roles occupied by women in the design, authorship, production, distribution and consumption of printed material from the thirteenth century onwards. From political reformists to paleobotanists the work of women from the north of England has helped to shape the world we live in today and yet, society has habitually reduced women’s impact and achievements to stereotypical gender roles. Such a narrow framework has left little room for authentic story-telling and equal representation. The CWIP prize has also shortlisted titles for its unpublished comic novel award, and the humorous graphic novel prize, in what Lederer called “an unbelievably good year for witty writing by women”.