Western New Mexico University professor Deborah Heller’s book Bluestockings Now! (2015) has been chosen for inclusion in a new Routledge series: Routledge Historical Resources: History of Feminism.
The new History of Feminism series selected Heller’s text “for its decisive contribution to the feminist history of ideas in an international context.”
“It’s an honor to be included,” said Heller. “The new series will bring the book to an even wider audience.”
Heller has already received international accolades for her writing efforts. Dr. Elizabeth Eger, King’s College London, called the book “an exciting intervention in the field of eighteenth-century literary studies…particularly innovative and thought provoking.”
Heller’s book deals with the Bluestockings, a group of women active in England and Ireland during the late 1700s and early 1800s. “Their social and cultural accomplishments were nothing short of world-changing,” Heller said.
According to Heller, these women were the direct forerunners of modern feminism. Among other things, they blazed the trail for the abolition of slavery and for women’s suffrage.
“The purpose in writing the book is to renew the Bluestocking spirit in our own time and to stimulate a revival of Bluestocking activism,” said Heller.
Bluestockings Now! is published in a new edition by Routledge and is available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and other booksellers.
In addition to her active research and publishing life, Heller teaches a variety of courses on literature and intellectual history at WNMU at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.