‘Not Just Tea and Sandwiches: Women of the 1984 Miners Strike’

STOP PRESS

Saturday 21^st June – 12pm – 8pm, followed by Homespun Women’'s Social

The Feminist Library, 5 Westminster Bridge Rd, London SE1 7XW 

PROGRAMME 

Exhibition in the Library – All Day. Artefacts documenting women’s activism in the Miners’' Strike, presented alongside contemporary artwork. Curated by Megan Pickering (http://iamnotawomanartist.tumblr.com/) featuring original work by Jessica Scott (http://jessica-scott.com/)

12-1.30pm Storytelling Workshop: Fiction from Fact, with Laura Wilkinson. This workshop will consider different approaches to writing fiction (short stories and novels) inspired by real life events using a range of images and ideas. Suitable for all levels and experience. Come ready to write. Places limited – please RSVP to bookshop@feministlibrary.co.uk. Fee £10 (if you have trouble attending because of the fee, please contact us so that we can discuss arranging a subsidy)  

12.30-2pm Film: Here We Go! Women Living in the Strike, produced and directed by Maggie Wright, followed by discussion with Jill Mountford of North Staffs Miners'’ Wives Group.

1.30-2.30pm Lunch break – please bring a packed lunch 

2.30 – 4pm Literature of the Miners'’ Strike: where are the women? Women were key activists during the 1984/85 UK dispute, yet their voices remain marginal in popular representations of the strike. Dr Katy Shaw, a leading authority on the literature of the Miners'’ Strike, in conversation with Laura Wilkinson, author of Public Battles, Private Wars, explore women’s crucial involvement in the events of 1984/5 and the role now played by the strike in modern fiction. 

4pm-4.30pm Refreshment Break – Tea, real coffee and cakes (inc. vegan and GF options) available for modest donations.  

4.30-6pm Recording Experiences of the Strike – Documentary and Oral History. Looks at women'’s experiences in the strike and its aftermath, how it changed lives and communities, if these changes lasted, and what can we take from them today.

We will be screening “Not Just Tea and Sandwiches,” a short documentary from “The Miners'’ Campaign Tapes”, as well as being joined by Rachel Kirk of One For All Productions, creators of oral history project “Holes in Tights”, which records the experiences and memories of North East Women in 1984/5.

6 –-8pm Group Meal and Discussion, kicked off by Kit Habianic, author of Until Our Blood Is Dry, (Parthian, 2014) which explores transitions in a male dominated South Wales mining community where traditional values are ripped apart. Kit will also tell of her eight-year struggle to get the book published.  We will reflect on the day as a group, and consider what we can take from the various sessions, and how they might relate to our communities today. Hot food with vegan and gluten-free options will be provided for donations.  

8pm onwards: Homespun Women’'s Social, with music from the 80s!

Suggested donation minimum £3 to the Library to support its ongoing work. 
All genders welcome to the day’'s activities, but the social is self-defined "women only".–
Accessible building:– if possible please contact in advance so that we can facilitate access needs.