Abstract
Reclaiming lost or forgotten (Victorian) popular women writers and their works is still an important, ongoing aim of literary and gender studies. In this article, we take the Key Popular Women Writers series, published by Edward Everett Root Publishers and edited by Janine Hatter and Helena Ifill, as one example of a current series that continues and develops this feminist practice. By drawing upon the research, writing and publishing practice of current women academics, as well as related issues concerning literary value, canonicity and the popularity of the Victorian writers themselves, we showcase the methodological and pedagogical practice of finding motivation and inspiration beyond that which is established as the norm. Furthermore, through examining the current political, academic and publishing fields’ impact on researching and teaching (Victorian) popular fiction, we discuss breakthroughs, challenges and potential ways for the study of this area to move forward. Popular women’s writing continues to offer readers, students and academics, ways to challenge conventions, embrace the multi-faceted nature of our field and take our place on the landscape.
Highlights
Reclaiming lost or forgotten (Victorian) popular women writers and their works is still an important, ongoing aim of literary and gender studies
In this article we discuss the Key Popular Women Writers series so far, including the reasons we thought that the series was worth reviving, how and why this new incarnation differs from the original series, and what we hope it can achieve in the future
In a break with the convention of individual or at most joint authorship of articles in the Humanities – and yet perfectly in the spirit of both the Victorian Popular Fiction Association and this journal – we asked the authors of the volumes in the series so far to contribute short interventions about their connections to their respective key popular women writers and to talk about their own practices as women writers
Summary
Reclaiming lost or forgotten (Victorian) popular women writers and their works is still an important, ongoing aim of literary and gender studies. Almost exactly a year (at the time of writing) after the publication of the first five titles in the series, is a good time to revisit our motivations and hopes for Key Popular Women Writers, and to reflect upon some of the challenges we have faced (and continue to face) as editors.
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