The Heroine Collective is an online UK publication dedicated to the heroic women, past and present, who have played a crucial part in creating positive cultural change in the world today. You can read about women across era, specialism and continent, and our search pages allow you to tailor your reading to your interests.
We have a range of different features to offer you:
Our INTERVIEW section covers interviews with a range of pioneering women from varied backgrounds and specialisms. For example, our first cluster of women include psychotherapist and social critic Dr. Susie Orbach, Liberian activist, writer and academic Robtel Neajai Pailey, BBC Broadcaster Bidisha, feminist activists Dr. Finn Mackay and Lucy Anne Holmes.
Our DISCOVER section aims to introduce you to women in more remote communities, or in shadow professions – women whose work doesn’t always bring them into the public eye. Some of the first women we cover include the Chibok girls who returned to school after capture and Mama Makoko, who began unfunded education programs for the communities of Makoko, one of Nigeria’s poorest slums. Secondly, it aims to offer you accessible pieces for quick learning about women working in a variety of fields. Our list features offer you profiles of up-and-coming women in various fields (Women to Watch Out For), but we also give list profiles of women of our history. Our first articles include pioneering women in STEM, sport, comedy and environmentalism.
Our INSPIRE section will foreground the idea of legacy and chain-making. We run a Guest Contributor section for women writers and activists we admire to add their voices to the publication. Our launch month contains one of our heroines, Finn Mackay, discussing the achievements of one of her heroines, the brilliant Andrea Dworkin. We’ve also been running an internship scheme and will showcase the work of our exceptional younger writers as they explore the lives of women who inspire them. We also run a Top Tips feature in this section where we offer easy advice routes to achieve key goals.
Our BIOGRAPHY section aims to trace these women’s journeys, their influences and look at the impact of their legacy. Our first group of women includes pop culture critic Anita Sarkeesian, abolitionist Harriet Tubman, Kitty Wilkinson ‘Saint of the Slums’, and Little Rock 9 member Elizabeth Eckford.
Whatever your reason for visiting – pleasure, inspiration or study – we hope you’ll feel as empowered reading these stories, as we did researching them. We also hope you’ll enjoy the original artistic interpretations of the women, expertly crafted by our growing artistic community.
Do visit our OPINION section for a range of articles discussing the social, cultural, historical and political issues associated with the publication’s angle.
Why?
The Heroine Collective is a response to our belief that there is still a lack of recognition of the achievements of our world’s women. Our cultures’ stories, both real and fictitious, typically ignore or bypass the heroic woman. Heroic women are all too often absent or marginalised in our educational curriculums, too often ignored in our media and our narratives frequently fail to champion women for their intellect, bravery and talent.
We believe that a culture which fails to champion women’s heroism will neglect to foster heroism in its girls and young women, and ultimately encourage both genders to have a limited view of the diverse and awesome input women have made to the world in which we live.
But you’ll be pleased to know there’s no shortage of heroines! There are vast numbers of heroic women who have shaped – and are continuing to shape – peoples, worlds and legacies in the spirit of positive change. This is a place to express our gratitude for them and shine a light on their achievements. It is also a place to inspire women and girls to live by the rules they make for themselves, and not the restrictive rules society so often sets up for them.
We hope The Heroine Collective will act as an accessible resource which contributes to the efforts of activists and archivists who are working so hard to bring these women’s names into our day-to-day dialogues.
The Team
Founding Editor: Kate Kerrow
Kate founded The Heroine Collective in 2015. She’s a writer and researcher; her work focuses on women’s political histories. Her plays have been professionally produced in the UK and America, and she is currently working on her first novel at Goldsmiths University of London. She’s a committed feminist activist, and contributes regularly to campaigns which aim to make the world a better place for women and girls. Twitter @KateKerrow.
Contributing Editor: Amber Karlins
Amber works as a professor in Florida, teaching writing, literature, and theatre. Her first book, a work of creative non-fiction, was published in 2011. She also enjoys academic writing and has published papers in such places as the African American National Biography and the Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies.
Core Contributors: Josephine Liptrott, Miranda Bain, Jessie Anand, Sara Sherwood, Tom Nash, Claudia Marinaro.
Guest Contributors: Dr. Finn Mackay, Dr. Robtel Neajal Pailey, Sian Norris.
Artists: Carrie Love, Will Elliot.