The Metamorphosis of The Wild and Woolly (and Awful) Lesbian into
An Ordinary Woman (in some places, sometimes)

Talk and Discussion
Lesbian History Group, London 1 March 2025

Suniti Namjoshi

Suniti grew up in India, worked in Canada and has lived in a small village on the Devon-Dorset border with Gillian Hanscombe for many years. She says that if you live long enough, you can give a quarter of a century to each continent.

Her books include Feminist Fables, Goja, Suki (a memoir about her beloved cat) and the most recent O Sister Swallow (an elegy for her sister).

All these are available from Spinifex. Matriarchs, Cows and Epic Villains will be published in March 2025 by Zubaan and Penguin, India.

Second Wave Lesbian Feminists wanted to change the world, fight the patriarchy and counter the prevalent inimical attitudes towards lesbians and women in general. We each used what skills we had. I was a fabulist, so I was concerned with language. I still am.

The world changed; and instead of being outsiders, we were more or less normalised, at least in some places, sometimes. The battle seemed to fizzle out; but it left us feeling uneasy. There were still problems, but perhaps things weren’t so bad.

Today when I look at the state of world, that uneasiness has turned into appalled dismay. Bear with me then, if I do not now offer a chronological account. Though we tread the time track in a straight line, memory is simultaneous, and what we thought then impinges on what we think now.

Transcript of Suniti’s Talk

Video Highlights

Buy Suniti Books

• Spinifex Press Suniti’s Page
• Gazelle Book Services* Phone: +44 (0)1524 528500 Fax: +44 (0) 1524 528510
  Email: sales@gazellebookservices.co.uk
• Amazon

*Gazelle Book Services search works on book titles but not by author.

Also check out Spinifex Press one of the last if not the last Feminist Publishers established in 1991 for more fabulous, funny and thought provoking titles by other female authors.

A Taster of Suniti’s Work

Lesbian History Group would like to thank MaryM for videoing the talk and creating this web page.