Eden Built by Eves: The Culture of Women's Music Festivals (review)

Abstract

In Eden Built by Eves, Bonnie Morris surveys the twenty-five-year history of women's music festivals--temporary but annually recurring communities ("Eden") created by lesbians ("Eves"). Morris's qualifications for such an undertaking are personally and professionally substantial: she is a festival veteran and history professor. Having attended her first festival in 1981, she has since devoted her summer vacations to the festival circuit. She is honest about writing from the biased perspective of an insider who has attended festivals in the roles of anonymous "festiegoer" (paying attendee), stage performer, backup singer, emcee, workshop presenter, and coordinator. Throughout her years of festival attendance, Morris archived her own experiences and those of others by means of journal, camera, and tape recorder. Her training as a historian has enabled her to transform her personal archives into a well-documented history of women's music festivals and their culture. The importance of her contribution lies in the fact that previously published feminist histories do not reflect the experiences of a great many women; in contrast, some women will recognize themselves in this history, the first comprehensive exploration of the festivals.