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Her Other Language

Northern Irish Women Writers Address Domestic Violence and Abuse

Ruth Carr and Natasha Cuddington
£10.00

Her Other Language is an anthology of writing by women which seeks to focus attention on the ongoing issue of domestic violence and abuse. Its contributors include distinguished writers such as Lucy Caldwell, Leontia Flynn, Bernie McGill, Joan Newmann and Medbh McGuckian alongside emerging and first-time writers and survivors. All of the over 90 contributors have given their poems, stories and play extracts freely in support of Belfast and Lisburn Women's Aid.

In her foreword, Monica McWilliams warns: 'What you are about to read is both joyful and painful. Fear and tension jump out from the pages.' Yet there is also hope, the hope of solidarity across generation, class, gender, sexuality, language and ethnicity. What began as a project to bear witness to violence against women, has expanded to articulate the many paths from harm into the freedom of imaginative capability.

Published with financial support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Allstate.

Frances Molloy's short story, Women are the Scourge of the Earth, which features in the anthology, is drawn from her short story collection Women are the Scourge of the Earth, available from this website for £5.95.

For further information contact ofmouth@gmail.com

Book Details

ISBN 978 1851322503

Gatefold Paperback 224 pages

Book Reviews

'Here is an anthology that goes beyond awareness building to engage seriously with the societal prevalence of sexist abuse and domestic violence, and the legacies of that abuse and violence in the lives of survivors. This difficult subject matter is approached with candour, sensitivity and grace; the result is timely, and deeply moving. Her Other Language is both a revelation and an intervention. Like The Female Line before it, this is a landmark anthology, and represents an important contribution to Irish literature.' Tara McEvoy

'Why didn't you scream, why didn't you leave? All the old judgemental questions. This wonderful anthology frees the trapped voices of women who have the answers, written on their body and in their being.' Susan McKay

'Turning to the lived experience of violence with art makes violence - in all its forms - the locus of scrutiny and the space between reader and writer is alive with an attention-demanding energy. The languages of survival in this collection bear witness to a need for justice and belief, attention and change.' Pádraig Ó Tuama

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