Group to study early feminist
by Tiffany Davis, south news editor

    In honor of Women’s History Month, Dr. Miriam Harris, associate professor of English and editor of The Unpredictable Adventure, will speak to students next week on South Campus.

    Sponsored by Women in New Roles (WIN-R), the seminar is open to the public Tuesday, March 6, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. in the SUB Living Room.

    “During my graduate studies, I began focusing on women’s studies,” she said.

    That focus led her to The Unpredictable Adventure, a fantasy novel originally published in 1935. Harris edited and wrote an Afterword for the novel’s first paperback edition.

    “The original book was written by Claire Myers Spotswood Owens, who was born in 1896 and died by her own hands in 1983,” she said.

    Owens was born in Texas, and after obtaining a bachelor’s degree at Texas Women’s University, she ventured to New York City. There she began writing reviews for Publishers Weekly and authoring her own books as well, Harris said.

    Critics have described the allegorical story as “serious fun, a rollicking, passionate exploration of female sexuality that questions male authority and anticipates many contemporary feminist concerns.”

    In the book, Owens writes, “However deficient they may be in other respects, the comedy with which men furnish women is inexhaustible.”

    Critic Aldous Huxley called it “a remarkable book.”

    The New York Times described the novel as a bold and daring fantasy adventure well ahead of its time.

    Owens’ book satirizes cultural norms and demonstrates the hazards awaiting women who dare to think and act in defiance of the gender roles society assigns them.

    Owens questions male authority in ways that anticipate contemporary concerns.

    Triesha Light, WIN-R coordinator, said she invited Harris to speak to her students about Owens’ journey of independence to celebrate Women’s History Month from a different perspective this semester.

    “I believe that when you focus on someone else’s life, it gives you a broader insight allowing you to apply certain issues to your own journey of independence,” she said.

    According to Harris, The Unpredictable Adventure is available at amazon.com or barnesandnobel.com and can be purchased at the seminar for $20. Also Harris’ latest book Rape Incest Battery can be obtained in the same manner.

    Harris has taught Composition II, Creative Non-Fiction and American Literature II with field studies in biography, autobiography, American history and feminist theories.

    For more information, contact Light at 817-515-4740 or Harris at 817-515-4625.