Charlotte Guillard is the first woman printer with a widely recognised career. She worked at the famous Soleil d’Or printing house in Paris from 1502 until her death in 1557. From 1537 onwards, after the passing of her second husband, Guillard ran her printing business on her own. This was unusual for the time, as women were not allowed to own a business. They were, however, allowed to take over the business of their husband after their death. From political reformists to paleobotanists the work of women from the north of England has helped to shape the world we live in today and yet, society has habitually reduced women’s impact and achievements to stereotypical gender roles. Such a narrow framework has left little room for authentic story-telling and equal representation. The journey for a statue to be erected began in 2014 with The Womanchester Project; a campaign to get a new statue of a radical Manchester woman. In 2016 the public voted to commemorate Emmeline Pankhurst from a long-list of 20 important women. First in the Fight documents the lives of the twenty women who were long-listed in the campaign, who all made Manchester first in the fight for freedom, and feminism. The Book This award is open to all women filmmakers and content developers. The film must be an original narrative created, produced and devised by a woman, or women, although male cast and crew members are allowed.

Yes – we require all films to be 6 minutes or under, to be entirely original dialogue, to not feature brand logos and most importantly, to only use music with the written consent of the performer and/or publisher either personally or via the PRS system https://www.prsformusic.com/ .Men and women writers have long been treated differently. The industry is riven with bias – both insidious and documented. Publishers in the 60s were taking Tom Sharpe and Malcolm Bradbury to lunch and paying far less attention to the talents of Barbara Pym and Katharine Whitehorn. And The Emilia Report into the Gender Gap for Authors in 2019 studied how male and female writers in the same markets were received. Sutanto started out writing dark suspense, and says her friends would tell her that her characters were “too flippant about murder”. “The Aunties can be very flippant, as long as I have the main character as the normal person who is going out of her mind. So the comedy actually came very, very naturally, which was really great,” she said. After a bidding war, the novel is being adapted by Netflix, which describes it as Crazy Rich Asians meets Weekend at Bernie’s. That said, some women will still prefer to work in the office with the opportunities for learning and social intercourse which that offers. The pandemic will have helped individuals to identify how they work best and what motivates them to work aside from income. My guess is that many businesses will offer “blended” or “hybrid” options.

I think a lot of the changes will affect everyone, not just women but we do have a great opportunity to use the changes to try and get more women into the industry!

The first female printer was Anna Rügerin. Anna was a female typographer from the city of Augsburg in Germany. In 1484, she printed two books in the in-folio format in her own press. Eleven aspiring novelists are also longlisted in the Unpublished Comic Novel category. A surprise Game Changer Award will be presented to echo Jilly Cooper’s Lifetime Achievement prize last year. Yolande Bonhomme was another prominent woman printing in Paris. She began printing on her own following her husband’s death in 1522. Estimates of her output range from 136 to 200 publications before her death in 1557. In 1526, she became the first woman to publish the Bible and she later joined forces with Charlotte Guillard to demand better quality paper from the papermakers’ guild. With the shift to remote working, now more than ever companies have been looking at technological solutions to aid their print procurement. We’re making the industry more inviting to all walks of life including women, younger people and those currently in other sectors. I think it’s a great opportunity for everybody, especially those who we have struggled to entice into the industry over the years.” Our staff who are based in production roles haven’t been able to work from home but there has still been a need for more flexibility with working hours as people have needed time off for childcare, appointments and time to support family members who have been isolating. This flexibility will continue into the future and I suppose it could be argued that a more flexible way of working within production will create more opportunities for women if they have constraints on their working hours due to home life, but again, this is the same for men.

Figure 1.2. In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of The Thirteen United States of America, Baltimore, Maryland 1777. Printed by ‘M. K. Goddard’. Continental Congress & Constitutional Convention Broadsides Collection, Library of Congress. Reproduced by permission of the Library of Congress, Rare Books and Special Collections Division. Working patterns have changed during the pandemic. As people have juggled home education and work, employers have learnt to be much more flexible about the hours people work and have learnt to trust staff to work conscientiously from home. It hugely accelerated the take up of online meetings and this convenient, time- and travel cost-saving option could be retained alongside face to face meetings in future. TRAVEL: The University of Birmingham is accessible by train, bus, car, bicycle and on foot. Directions and maps can be found HERE. Figure 8.2. Design for an Irish-themed Greeting Card, Elizabeth C. Yeats (Cuala Press Archive). Image courtesy of the Board of Trinity College, Dublin.Ottoman Women’s Print Network and Their Creative Contribution to Print Culture in Turkey (Özlem Özkal and Ömer Durmaz) I’m really excited about the shortlist because I think this really showcases different ways that women are funny,” said Keyes, who together with judges including the comedian Lolly Adefope also shortlisted Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare, Michelle Gallen’s Big Girl, Small Town, Angela Makholwa’s The Blessed Girl, and Abbi Waxman’s The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Women in Print 2 reflects the efforts and expertise of many people. We hope that the publication justifies their commitment and not only provides ←xi | xii→ a reflection of the importance of women in print but also encourages further research into the history of women in the printing trade. Figure 1.1. Fragment of a broadside on the Popish and Meal-Tub Plots and other events of the time; with eight of twelve scenes: Popish Damnable Plot against Our Religious and Liberties, Lively Delineated in Several of Its Branches, With an Account of the Manner of the Execution of William Viscount Stafford on Tower-Hill. London, 1680. Reproduced by permission from the British Museum. I am supportive of Women’s Day, and recognise its importance in celebrating the achievements of women, however I personally have been exceptionally fortunate to be in an industry, and worked for two key players in that industry, St Ives and CPI, who have not made gender an issue, in any way. I won’t pretend it hasn’t been challenging balancing working and bringing up my daughter, however the support I got made it possible for me to succeed.