Since 1986, women in our book groups, reading retreats, and book trips select titles for our ongoing list of Great Books—the books that:

• most intrigued, inspired and stretched them,
• provoked strongest response and discussion,
• were important to have read,
• they want other readers to know about.

How did the “Great Books—Because We Say So!” came about?

Ah, the power of naming.

When Glenda Martin decided to expropriate the designation “great book” from the dead white males to whom it traditionally was awarded and to apply it instead to books by women, she acted partly with tongue in cheek. But she also was totally serious.

In 1986 she started offering book groups at Minnesota Women’s Press.  These groups would read only women’s works, she said. She was not at all apologetic about limiting the reading to women writers (or, as some skeptics saw it, ignoring men). It was a matter of beginning to right the balance.

This was a time when the venerable Great Books Foundation was publishing its own editions of the books it deemed great: 54 volumes, 32,000 pages, 25 million words. Every word a man’s.

This has to change, Glenda said. “We’ll decide for ourselves what books are great.”! ! !

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The above brief history is excerpted from an article written by Mollie Hoben, which appeared in the first issue of our magazine, BookWomen, Oct.-Nov., 1996.  Minnesota Women’s Press was the feminist newspaper created by Glenda and Mollie in 1985.

In 1996, they created BookWomen: A Reader’s Community for Those Who Love Women’s Words in order to publish BookWomen magazine and to offer book-centered experiences: reading retreats, Books Afoot trips, and readers’ groups.  The Women’s Press continues to this day, and BookWomen does, too.