Happy National Reading Month & Women’s History Month!

Let the reading begin!

Ready…set..READ! 🏁

In last week’s newsletter, I announced March’s book club pick: All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami. If you have not yet picked up your copy, you can do so at Bookshop.org or on Amazon. I will be sending out discussion questions on March 22^nd to be completed by March 26^th so you have plenty of time.

Let’s celebrate! 🍾

March is National Reading Month in the US AND Women’s History month. What a great month to officially start our book club! If you haven’t done so already, invite your friends and family to sign up for this newsletter and get in on the fun! Grab your favorite childhood book and read to a kid in your life, or to your inner child (may I suggest The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe). Take your book club book and go read in a new spot, maybe a café you’ve been wanting to try or a park. Be open to conversation if a stranger leans over and asks, “Whatcha readin’?” Buy a small gift from a woman-owned business for a special lady in your life or write her a letter letting her know how much you appreciate her. Watch an inspirational film featuring women in history—I recommend Shirley (Netflix, 2024), about Shirley Chisolm’s 1972 presidential campaign—or listen to a podcast like Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Wiser Than Me where she has personal conversations with iconic older women including Isabel Allende and Jane Fonda.

Shout out to our woman of the hour 👏

As a longtime lover of Japanese literature, I’m thrilled to see a growing demand for it, especially fiction written by women authors. Traditional gender roles in Japan can still make it hard for women to break into male-dominated industries, and writing is no exception. That said, things are changing. More women authors are gaining recognition—like Sayaka Murata (Convenience Store Woman), and Yoko Ogawa (The Memory Police), and our woman of the hour, Mieko Kawakami—and readers worldwide are actively seeking more books by Japanese women. Our book club is part of that movement!

"Mieko Kawakami" by Lesekreis is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

A Japan Times article on the increasing interest in Japanese stories had this to say about the author of our book club book:

“Women writers are receiving more recognition for their work. Take Mieko Kawakami, for example. Three novels vaulted the Osaka-born writer from relative obscurity abroad to critical acclaim: “Breasts and Eggs” (2020), “Heaven” (2021) and “All the Lovers in the Night” (2022), each translated into English by Sam Bett and David Boyd. Kawakami’s unflinching takes on womanhood and alienation in contemporary Japanese society have earned her legions of admirers, with English readers among them hotly anticipating the 2025 release of her latest translation by Bett and Boyd, “Sisters in Yellow.”

Women in Japan do get published, but the literary world—like many industries—has its challenges when it comes to gender representation. While Japan has produced many renowned women writers, the publishing industry still tends to favor male authors, especially in literary fiction. Despite some positive developments, women in publishing continue to face challenges.

Work in progress 👷‍♀️🚧

While we take time this month to celebrate books, as well the women in our lives and the ones who have made a difference in the world, I want to raise awareness that there is still work to be done where women in literature are concerned.

Despite women publishing more books overall (in the US and UK), men often receive more literary prizes, critical recognition, and higher advances for their books. In Japan specifically, various sources highlight a significant disparity in leadership roles and recognition, particularly in who judges and wins literary prizes. The majority of Japan’s most prestigious literary prizes, like the Akutagawa Prize, have been won by men. And the judges of said prizes have been predominantly judged by, you guessed it, men.

If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out one of those articles here.

There also remains a disparity in leadership roles within publishing houses across the globe, which can influence decision-making and the promotion of women's voices. Addressing these challenges requires continued advocacy for equitable representation and recognition of women's contributions across all literary genres.

“Chick lit” 💃

Speaking of genres, women writers in Japan are often funneled into certain ones, such as romance, slice-of-life fiction, or “iyashikei” (healing fiction), rather than being seen as literary heavyweights. In general, books written by women are often pigeonholed as “Women’s Literature,” and are sometimes dismissed as less serious, leading to their marginalization within the literary community. Have you ever heard of “Men’s Literature?”

Nope, neither have I.

Because that would be ridiculous, right?

It’s a disservice to women when their books are automatically categorized as “Women’s Fiction” or “Chick Lit,” as if their stories are only relevant to half the population. Literature by women isn’t a niche—it’s literature, period. By lumping women’s voices into a separate category, the publishing industry subtly reinforces the idea that men’s stories are universal while women’s are optional.

That’s why this book club is so important! We’re here to show that books by women—whether literary fiction, historical epics, or even romcoms—deserve to be read, discussed, and valued just as much as those by men.

This article from The Georgetown Voice explores how the term “Women’s Literature” can be reductive and anti-woman, lumping diverse works by women authors into a niche category instead of recognizing them as serious literary contributions.

Labels 🙅‍♀️🏷️

“Labeling makes the invisible visible, but it’s limiting. Categories are the enemy of connecting.” – Gloria Steinem

I recognize the importance of the publishing industry and booksellers labeling and categorizing for the sake of marketing and consumer convenience. However, it needs to be done with care and awareness. Once something is labeled, it can be boxed into a specific category, and the complexity and diversity of that experience can be reduced.

Labels can create rigid boundaries, oversimplifying and generalizing people's identities or experiences. Societal labels or assumptions about an author’s identity (whether it’s gender or race) can lead to their work being miscategorized, regardless of the actual content.

Labeling books written by women authors as simply “Women’s Literature” often reduces their writing to a stereotype based on gender, overlooking the depth, diversity, and complexity of their stories. The content may be about relationships, for example, but it can also explore much broader themes like identity, generational conflicts in families, or societal expectations.

This same issue affects minority writers as well. Authors can often get lumped into irrelevant categories based solely on their appearance or one aspect of their identity (e.g. African American Literature or LGBTQ+ Literature). This clip from the film American Fiction (Netflix, 2023), points to how racial or ethnic assumptions can dictate how a book is categorized, regardless of its content. The author's work, rooted in Greek mythology, is misclassified based on his race, much like how a book by a woman author might be unjustly categorized based on gender.

In doing research for this week’s newsletter, I found an interesting article exploring this topic from different angles. You can check it out here.

Call to action 📣

Feel free to answer one or all of these questions:

There are arguments both for and against labeling. I’m curious to hear your opinions on this subject.

1. Does labeling books as Asian American/African American/LGBTQ+ Literature perpetuate stereotypes, or does it help increase visibility for minority writers?

2. Have you ever avoided reading a book because of the way it was labeled —whether as 'Chick Lit,' 'Domestic Fiction,' or something else? How did your perception change once you actually read it?"

3. What expectations do you have when picking up a book labeled as “Women’s Fiction”? Do you think this label is helpful or limiting?

Happy Reading!

Morgan