With Lynsey Shaw inside the Heroine City gates today we have Claire Louise Amias. Actor, director and playwright, Claire is the star of her self-penned one woman show, The Masks of Aphra Behn, which explores the fascinating and pioneering life of the 17th Century spy and Restoration writer of its title.

Behn was arguably the first professional female writer. After a failed marriage and a stint as a spy for Charles II, Behn began writing as a means to financial autonomy and lifelong independence. What followed was a prolific, trailblazing career during which she created the Restoration play, The Rover (1677) and, arguably, the first ever novel, Oroonoko (1688), the first in English to feature a black, enslaved African as its protagonist.

Virginia Woolf famously wrote, “All women together ought to let flowers fall on the tomb of Aphra Behn . . . For it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.”

A is For Aphra Statue Campaign: https://www.aisforaphra.org/

Find out more about Claire's work here: https://www.amonkeywithcymbals.co.uk/

Warning: Contains discussion of sexual violence.

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In episode five of Heroine City, Lynsey Shaw is joined by Dr Euan Roger, lead curator at The National Archives, to discuss the fascinating Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester. A sad tale of love magic, witchcraft and treason, Eleanor was imprisoned for the rest of her life and her marriage to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester annulled after she was accused of using witchcraft 'in a treasonous way' and tricking him into marriage with 'love magic.'

Eleanor's story and its place in the timeline of women accused of treason is part of The National Archives current exhibition, Treason: People, Power and Plot running until April 6th, 2023. In the exhibition Eleanor's case sits within a legal evolution that led to the downfall of Anne Boleyn. Not only do we talk about Eleanor, whose story deserves to be wider known but two other women connected to the case, 'The Witch of Eye', Margery Jourdemayne and Kentish woman Juliana Ridligo. Both died as a result of the allegations, the former as a heretical witch and the latter after telling King Henry VI what she thought of him and his treatment of Eleanor while he was passing through Blackheath.

Warning: Contains discussion of violence

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Inside the Heroine City gates for this episode we have the wonderful writer and comedian Kate Fox. Dr Kate, author of her 2022 book, 'Where There's Much, There's Bra: True Stories of the Women of the North of England' discusses northern English women of note, both past and present, with our host Lynsey Shaw.

In this episode they discuss Kate's work, 'northern' criteria, what that means, its associated stereotypes and paradoxes, and why she chose to highlight the women in her book following her PhD on the subject in relation to performance. Their stories, connectivity, and legacy of these women now sits inside the Heroine City as wonderful example of powerful collective female identity and why we need to always ensure that we keep alive the spirit of women who came before, while making a pathway for those that follow.

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In this episode of Heroine City, Lynsey Shaw talks with Dr. Emma Southon about the rebellious Queen of the Iceni who took on the Roman Empire in 60AD, Boudicca. They explore the ways in which her story has been used over the years in British and Roman culture and the problematic use of her now as a feminist icon.

As Emma says, “history is sexy, and sometimes fun, and sometimes hilarious, just like people.” It is also challenging, controversial and subjective. On our mission to bring women’s narratives to the fore, here at Heroine City we will discuss the problematic heroines as much as those with seemingly straightforward stories, because all of them are inevitably complex and multifaceted, which is where the good stuff lies. 

Please don't forget to share, subscribe and rate our podcast, and follow us on our instagram @heroine_city. We want to hear your suggestions on other fascinating women from the past.

Dr. Emma Southon's news, work and links can be found here: https://emmasouthon.com

Warning This episode contains discussion of violence.

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In this episode Lynsey is joined by Professor Elizabeth Foley O’Conner to talk about Pamela Coleman Smith. Pixie, as she was sometimes known, was an Anglo-American artist and publisher prolific in the mediums of painting, printing, and illustration. Ahead of her time in many ways, Pamela was an occultist and a self-defining, non-conformist, Smith practiced synaesthesia, with an ability to paint from visions induced while listening to music. Famous in her lifetime, she lived and worked within an elite circle of late Victorian and Edwardian artists, actors and writers who recorded, employed, and lauded her talent in its day.

Subsequently overlooked, since the height of her fame in the early part of the twentieth century, Colman Smith’s struggle with finances meant that she died in 1951 without the financial recognition her body of astounding work deserved. You will have seen her images, perhaps in the Rider Waite (now called Waite-Smith) tarot deck. Now it is time to get to know the person who created them.

LINKS:

Pamela Colman Smith: Artist, Feminist & Mystic at Liverpool UC https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/books/id/55385/

Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story https://www.amazon.com/Pamela-Colman-Smith-Untold-Story/dp/157281912X

Colman Smith Blue Plaque Campaign link https://susanwands.com/?page_id=329

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.