Tucked away in a backstreet of Istanbul's sleepless Beyoğlu district, where even at night the population reaches two million, Turkey’s first feminist bookstore opened 10 days ago to welcome curious readers

ONUR BURÇAK BELLİ
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News


Turkey's first feminist bookstore, established by the Amargi Woman Academy, a women's organization founded in 2001 to develop feminist theory and practice, acts as a meeting point for Amargi and readers who follow feminist literature.

While some people were standing in front of the second-hand bookshelves that are literally filled with books and magazines that look brand new, as well old ones, others chose to sip tea or coffee and read in silence.

In a room at the back of the bookstore, Pınar Selek, a sociologist and the editor of Amargi journal and her friends were busy unpacking the 2008 calendars that were soon to be put on sale.

"We need to earn money to keep this place open," Selek said with a smile of proud satisfaction on her face.

Amargi takes its name from a Sumerian word meaning freedom and "returning to mother." It aims to unite the experiences of women and academia and to develop feminist analysis and policies at the same time.

“We develop feminist thought and feminist policies through an analysis of current problems and through the organization of seminars and workshops, and by publishing books,” Selek said, emphasizing that Amargi has been active in politics as a cooperative for seven years. In addition to the quarterly Amargi journal that has been published for the past two years, the feminist bookstore is both the outcome and the driving force of the organization's efforts.

“Women were coming to us with essays in their hands, wanting them to be published or just wanting to discuss,” she said. “There were words to be said.”

“For seven years Amargi, both as a cooperative and as a journal, managed to survive without any funds or capital,” Selek said, adding that they opened the bookstore with no funds, either.

“Our readers and volunteers were pushing us, stating the need for such a place, but we did not have any money to realize it. When we said 'okay, let's try it,' we found ourselves painting the walls and cleaning the windows of this place,” she said. “It was a solidarity with our volunteers and supporters as well as the people of the neighborhood.”



Seminar plans

The Amargi bookstore prepares to bring readers, writers and researchers together in one place for the exchange of ideas. Some of the events planned for this month are two seminars on Virginia Woolf's “A room of one's own” and a meeting with poet and writer Neşe Yaşin from Cyprus, whose book “Secret history of sad girls” has been banned.

With many other plans and projects for the new year currently in the pipeline, the first feminist bookstore awaits readers, writers and anyone who believes in the need for feminist theory, and for anyone who needs it.

“Anybody can help us. There are books we are looking for and cannot find. They can send us the books or research they have made. Or at least they can make it a meeting point for their appointments. We will be happy to welcome anyone here,” Selek said, as she asked for confirmation from the customers and volunteers.

Everyone promised that they will welcome and help those who are interested in learning about feminist thought.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=92622

Hurra!!! Congratulations, Turkey!

...well, I think that there is a lot of litterature that can be counted into feminist literature, just search the internet and you will find loads - academic, poetry, lyrics, whatever.

I read mostly swedish litterature but one book that I would highly recommend is Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. It is not a traditional feminist book but it taught me a lot about what it is to be a woman in a western country.

I once had a teacher that explained feminism as being a very broad field...so she used to say that when it comes to the lowest common denominator - a feminist is:
1. a person that sees the structures in the worlds societies that opress women
2. and wants to do something about it! .

...the majority of my class defined themselves as feminists after that...both men and women...