Event to feature poems, essays on women, sex after 50
Join six contributors to the anthology, Unmasked, Women Write About Sex and Intimacy After Fifty, for a discussion about women, aging, and sexuality at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, at the Op.Cit bookstore in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Renata Golden and Barbara Rockman, both of Santa Fe, Tania Pryputniewicz, and Lisa Rizzo, as well as co-editors Kathleen Barry, Ph.D. and Marcia Meier, will read selections from the book, followed by a wide-ranging discussion. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.
Unmasked is intended to surprise, inform and encourage all women of a certain age to (re)discover their sexuality. “In a society that reveres youth – and particularly young, sexy women – little attention is paid to sex and intimacy among women in later life,” Meier says. “Unmasked gives women from around the world an opportunity to share their stories.”
Kirkus Reviews praises Unmasked as “a diverse array of perspectives here, each unique enough to keep readers intrigued. A refreshingly blunt chorus of older women’s voices.”
This collection of 32 poems and 21 essays features works by women who are published writers and also mothers, grandmothers, playwrights, professors, teachers, psychotherapists, copywriters, city council women, and a model for a foot fetish website. They come from places as diverse as Australia, California, Delaware, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Washington, Wisconsin, the UK, among others. Many have prestigious fellowships and Pushcart Prize nominations and other awards to their names. They range in age from 50 to 87, and reflect the full spectrum of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
“Sex for women after 50 is invisible for the same reason that contraception, abortion, and sex between two women or two men has been forbidden: sexuality is supposed to be only about procreation. This lie was invented by patriarchy, monotheism, racism, and other hierarchies. Sexuality is and always has been also about bonding, communicating, and pleasure. Unmasked helps to restore a human right,” writes feminist leader and writer Gloria Steinem.
The next Unmasked reading, discussion, and book signing will be 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 2, at Boulder Book Store in Boulder, Colorado.
For more information or to buy copies of the book, visit: www.weepingwillowbooks.com/unmasked
About the Unmasked Editors:
Marcia Meier is an award-winning writer, developmental book editor, and founder and publisher of Weeping Willow Books. Her latest book of poetry and photography is Ireland, Place Out of Time (Weeping Willow Books, 2017). Her other books include Heart on a Fence (Weeping Willow Books, 2016), Navigating the Rough Waters of Today’s Publishing World, Critical Advice for Writers from Industry Insiders (Quill Driver Books, 2010), and Santa Barbara, Paradise on the Pacific (Longstreet Press, 1996). Her website is www.marciameier.com
Kathleen A. Barry, Ph.D., has been a licensed psychotherapist in California since 1995 and specializes in working with individuals as they face the crossroads of major life transitions. She has published a variety of writings about women, empowerment, grief, and sexuality at www.whispersofwisdom.com
