Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers - Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project

Theresa Barry and Labrys Books: Virginia’s First Feminist Bookstore

Terri Barry (left) and Joan Mayfield at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, 1979.

Theresa “Terri” Barry came out in 1976 when she was in her early twenties and still in college. That same year, she met her then-partner Joan Mayfield, and they decided to start a feminist bookstore. From 1977 to about 1980, she and Joan ran Labrys Books in the living room of their Richmond, Virginia, home. They chose the name Labrys, after the double headed ritual axe found in ancient Minoan depictions of the Mother Goddess. The bookstore was run with the support of the Richmond Lesbian Feminists, an organization that still exists today.

My Mother Was Many Things

June Arnold in 1977. Photo by Barbara Adams.

Roberta Arnold writes about her mother, June Arnold, novelist and founder of Daughters, Inc. publishing company. Julia Penelope once said that June filled out a form stating her religion as “Women,” and this was true. She was fierce in her devotion to the Women’s Movement.

Águila Talks about Her Memoir

Maria Cristina Moroles, known now by her ceremonial name Águila, is an Indigenous curandera, shaman, and landyke who has lived at Santuario Arco Iris, rugged women’s land in the Ozark Mountains near Ponca, Arkansas, since 1974. The land offers over a hundred acres of sanctuary for women and children, especially women and children of color. In 2000, she founded the Arco Iris Earth Care Project, a nonprofit that preserves 400 acres of neighboring wilderness land.

Epicurean of the Heart: In Memory of Shay Youngblood

Shay Youngblood at Charis Books and More in 2020

By E.R. Anderson, on behalf of Charis Books and More, and Charis Circle Shay Youngblood, novelist, playwright, artist, and poet, died on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, after an extended illness. She was surrounded by loved ones sending her to meet the ancestors. In the days since Shay has gone from this Earth, our Charis community has been longing for her to come back, and has sought sustenance in her words and in the words of all those whose lives she touched. Shay Youngblood was an epicurean of the heart, a writer’s writer, a generous gift-giver, a marvelous cook, and a cheerleader for everyone’s wildest dreams. Shay got her start at Charis Books and More in Atlanta, Georgia (now located in Decatur, Georgia), at the Charis Circle Young Women Writers Group. “The first evening Mama doesn’t come back, I make a sandwich with leaves from her goodbye letter.I want to eat her words.” We are fortunate that we got to witness and celebrate the entire trajectory of her writing career that went from her first, pre-publication poetry reading at Charis Books and More in 1980 all the way to her picture book release …

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Posted on July 15, 2024 Posted in Culture and the Arts, Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers Tagged with A Family Prayer, Amazing Grace, Atlanta, Big Mama Stories, Black Girl in Paris, Charis Books and More, Charis Circle, Decatur, Firebrand Books, Georgia, Horizon Theatre Company, Linda Bryant, Lisa Adler, Nancy Bereano, Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery, Shay Youngblood, Soul Kiss, Square Blues, Talking Bones, Ticket to Paris, Yaddo, Young Women Writers Group

Category: Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers

Theresa Barry and Labrys Books: Virginia’s First Feminist Bookstore

My Mother Was Many Things

Águila Talks about Her Memoir

Epicurean of the Heart: In Memory of Shay Youngblood