Associate Professor SueAnn Schatz will discuss two recent projects on New Woman novelists.

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Dr. SueAnn Schatz, associate professor of English at Lock Haven University, will give a presentation on early feminist writers to the Lock Haven Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Her talk, entitled “Who the Heck is Annie E. Holdsworth? A Discussion about Rediscovering British 'New Woman' Writers,” will be held in the Community Room of the Ross Library at 10:00 a.m. on March 5.
Schatz explained that “New Woman fiction is the term applied to novels of the 1880s and 1890s that featured a woman character who in some way wanted to break free from the social and political constraints of late nineteenth-century England. This could be in a variety of ways, from getting a university education to pursuing a career to supporting the right to vote. She was a complex figure, generating an astonishing amount of reaction.”

Schatz added that the term New Woman “was increasingly used more derisively during the 1890s by antifeminists, thus castigating many so-called New Woman novels without even considering their messages.”

In her presentation, Schatz will talk about two recent projects, both for the publishing company of Pickering & Chatto. One is the new edition of two of Annie E. Holdsworth's novels; the other is her work as a contributing co-editor for the Mary Cholmondeley collection. Her interest in these authors, among others, came about through her doctoral dissertation.

Schatz earned her B.A. from the University of Delaware and both her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico. She has been at Lock Haven University since the fall of 2001.

The AAUW promotes education and equity in education nationwide.