This CALL group is based on the idea that it is essential to hear both women’s and men’s voices. Historically, women’s voices were not valued.  As Elizabeth Lesser puts it in her book Cassandra Speaks, when women’s voices are heard, the full scope of human experience is shown.

The group focuses on the short fiction (and occasional non-fiction) of master women writers mainly from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries

The meetings pay close attention to such qualities as the narrator, tone, mood, theme, symbolism, imagery, word choice, character creation and motivation in order to deeply understand and learn from the writer’s vision.

In the September to December period, the facilitators will choose works from such international award-winning writers as Alice Munro, Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, Doris Lessing, Carol Shields, Joyce Carol Oates and Sharon Butala.  

Participants will have read the stories ahead of the meeting.  Each month, between September and December, a short work by one of these authors will be sent you as a PDF or a link and we will facilitate the discussion.  Between January and April members are encouraged to choose a story of their own and facilitate.