Fonds MsC-23 - West Coast Women and Words Society fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

West Coast Women and Words Society fonds

General material designation

  • Textual records
  • Sound recordings
  • Moving images

Parallel title

Women and Words Society

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

MsC-23

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

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Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1980-1998, predominant 1982-1996 (Creation)
    Creator
    West Coast Women and Words Society

Physical description area

Physical description

4.15 m of textual records and other material

Publisher's series area

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1982-1998)

Administrative history

The West Coast Women and Words Society was incorporated in 1982 with the goal of supporting women's writing. The society held an influential conference for women in literary and related fields in Vancouver from June 30 to July 3, 1983; participants included Canadian women writers, editors, publishers, critics, printers, typesetters, academics, playwrights, librarians, distributors, booksellers, translators, and educational and cultural organizers. The conference featured presentations of papers, panel discussions, workshops and interviews relevant to such themes as: feminism, power and alternative structures doing it (i.e. developing work strategies), traditions and new directions. The proceedings of the 1983 conference in Vancouver were published by Longspoon Press as IN THE FEMININE in 1985.
Following the conference, the West Coast Women and Words Society continued to fulfill their mandate by organizing poetry competitions, hosting readings and events, editing and compiling anthologies of women's writing, and running a mentorship program designed to connect young women writers with more established ones. IN 1984, the Society published WOMEN AND WORDS: THE ANTHOLOGY/ LES FEMMES ET LET MOTS: UNE ANTHOLOGIE with Harbour Publishing.
From 1985-1994, the Society held an annual summer school and retreat for women writers, WEST WORD. They also sponsored weekend workshops, writing contests, and book discussion groups. The society was officially dissolved in 1998, after prolonged financial difficulties.

Custodial history

Materials were in the custody of Gloria Greenfield prior to their acquisition by Special Collections and Rare Books. Ms. Greenfield donated the materials in two accruals, one in 1996 and a second, smaller accrual in 1997.
In 2001, Jeanne St. Pierre donated a small archival box of additional materials.

Scope and content

The fonds includes records of the administration and activities of the Women and Words Society, including minutes, correspondence, financial and payroll records, submissions, fundraising records, documentation of events and its mentorship program.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Arrangement

The fonds was made available to researchers prior to being arranged. At various stages, folders were moved from their original location. Neither of the two file lists (one provided by the donor at the time of acquisition in 1996, and one provided by a researcher in 2018) corresponded with the order of the folders when the archivist began to arrange them. The archivist has therefore imposed an arrangement that mostly coincides with the physical order of the files. Files related to the West Word workshops were arranged in chronological order, as that seemed to be the closest to how the creator arranged the materials. A list of boxes and files as they were in 2024 when the archivist processed the materials is available in the Collection File.

Language of material

    Script of material

      Location of originals

      Availability of other formats

      Digitized audio materials are available for research in SFU Digitized Collections: https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/spokenweb-collection/unarchiving-margins

      Restrictions on access

      Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

      Finding aids

      Printed inventory available; file list has been attached as a PDF document.

      Generated finding aid

      Associated materials

      Related materials

      Accruals

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      Description record identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules or conventions

      Rules for Archival Description

      Status

      Published

      Level of detail

      Full

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Finding aid prepared by Alexandra Wieland (September 2024)

      Language of description

      • English

      Script of description

        Sources

        Accession area