Carolyn Christensen Nelson, a senior lecturer in the Department of English at West Virginia University, has just published a new book with Broadview Press:Literature of the Women’s Suffrage Campaign in England.
A teacher of English literature in WVU s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Nelson specializes in Victorian literature, women writers of the 1890s and suffrage literature. She is the editor ofA New Woman Reader: Fiction, Articles, and Drama of the 1890sandBritish Women Fiction Writers of the 1890s.
Her new book focuses on plays, essays, fiction and poetry written by British women during their suffrage campaign of the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries in order to inform people about their cause, to justify their actions and to tell about their experiences.
During the last three summers, Nelson made use of the resources of the British Library and the Womens Library in London to locate works that have not been republished since the days of the suffrage campaign and that were important in advancing the cause of womens suffrage.
Lisa Weihman, an assistant professor in the Department of English, said the following about the books literary impact:Carolyn Nelson’s new book is an invaluable addition to both literary and gender studies. Her introduction to the collection provides an excellent overview of the social and political obstacles women faced in obtaining the vote in England; she has also included a helpful timeline of significant dates and brief biographical sketches of the major figures and organizations in the suffrage fight during the first decades of the twentieth century.
According to Valerie Sanders, an English professor at The University of Hull,This is the richest collection yet of suffrage materials, fully introduced, annotated and illustrated. The initial contextualizing of the campaign is followed by an impressive collection of difficult to obtain literary texts. Satirical poetry and drama, presented alongside formal political argument, and the passionate testimonies of key campaigners, prove just how literary a campaign this was. The vivid prison narratives, short stories and complete one act plays anthologize in this volume fully personalize the campaign and give one a sense of how ordinary people were caught up in the momentum of history. This is an invaluable anthology.
Rudolph Almasy, interim dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, added,We are always delighted when an Eberly College faculty member publishes a book, and in this way draws attention to the productivity of Eberly College faculty and the quality of the people at West Virginia University.
For more information about the book, please visit the Broadview Press website at:http://www.broadviewpress.com/bvbooks.asp?BookID=670, or contact Nelson by calling 293-3107 or by e-mail at cnelson2@wvu.edu . The book is currently being showcased in the display case in the main office of the Department of English.