It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote an update, but time feels very fluid at the moment. I hope you and your families, friends, neighbours are all well.

For me, the thing getting me through is the stories of lockdown love-ins, of socially distanced socialising. It’s scary out there, but a smile from a stranger rarely goes wrong in my book. That, and getting dressed up to go to the “theatre” or a “gig” online. I’m the one with my g&t rocking out in the lobby/ corner/ my sofa.

So we wanted to put on a bit of a do next Wednesday 20 May from 7pm. To say thank you to all of you for sticking with us and to celebrate stories, especially by women. Lockdown has sent us back to storytellers – and I’m including filmmakers, songwriters, poets, screen and fiction writers in this - to help us come together, be it through shared viewing, shared playlists or shared sing-a-longs.

Stories count. Women’s voices count. And you dear supporters, count. I am thrilled to announce... we have now raised over £10,500 for our book!  We’ve got 320 of your names ready to be printed in the back of the book once we hit that target, which though still some way off, is getting ever closer.

So we have something to celebrate! We’re partnering up with the brilliant Women’s Writes online book club to do it (and used their Zoom account which is just as well because despite my very steep learning curve I’m still a luddite). To get your seat at this season’s hottest feminist social – email your receipt for the book to info@ourwomenswrites before Wednesday 20 May. For more info go here.

I would LOVE to see as many of you there as can make it. The beauty of the online shindig is that it doesn’t matter where you are or how many of us want to come, there’s room for all!

We’d also love you to bring a friend – they can sign up as usual via Unbound.

At the event we’ll be giving away a few special rewards, sharing stories, getting a special guest appearance and shooting the breeze with some amazing authors. 

I can't wait and hope you can all make it. Would love to see your faces. 

Have a great weekend and see you Wednesday!