Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Textual records
- Sound recordings
- Moving images
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
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
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
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
Accruals
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- West Coast Women and Words Society (Subject)
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Rules for Archival Description
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Finding aid prepared by Alexandra Wieland (September 2024)
Language of description
- English