Member Article

Germaine Greer to speak at Leeds International Women’s Day conference

Germaine Greer, the international feminist icon, will be the guest speaker at this year’s International Women’s Day Conference in Leeds.

Organised by Forward Ladies, the business support organisation for professional women, Germaine Greer, author of The Female Eunuch, which became a bestseller in 1970, will be the headline speaker at the lunch to be held at the Leeds Club on 7 March.

She will be joined by Karyn McCluskey, co-director of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit - a woman who has achieved overwhelming success in a tough environment dominated by men. Third speaker at the event will be journalist and author Lady Kishwar Desai.

The event is being held in partnership with the Yorkshire Asian Business Association.

Germaine Greer created controversy with her first book, and 40 years later she still has plenty to say on the subject of the inequalities of women.

She has written numerous works on very different topics, though most relate in some way to the role of women. She has also written on art history, literature and on the issues about the Aborigine nation and also about her work rehabilitating the Australian rainforest.

Meanwhile Karyn McCluskey worked at the sharp end of policing for the past 15 years for police forces in Sussex, Lancashire, and West Mercia, firstly as head of intelligence analysis, before tackling the issue of violent crime head-on.

The third speaker is Lady Kishwar Desai, a columnist and author of three books.

Her first novel, Witness the Night won the Costa Book Award in 2010 for Best First Novel and has been translated into 15 languages. It was also shortlisted for the Author’s Club First Novel Award and longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Her subsequent books, Origins of Love and The Sea of Innocence have also been translated into several languages.

She worked as anchor, TV producer and head of a TV channel with some of the major Indian television networks. She is married to economist Meghnad Desai, a member of the House of Lords, and lives between London, Delhi and Goa.

Linda Barlow, managing director of Forward Ladies said: “Forward Ladies has never been afraid to tackle issues which affect women in the workplace.

“We have three very successful women from very different backgrounds who have championed the role of professional women, each in their own way.

“Our members and their guests will be very keen to have the opportunity to talk to them and to hear any advice they have to offer to help them to achieve their full potential.”

The International Women’s Day lunch is open to anyone to attend. Further details are available on the Forward Ladies’ website: http://www.forwardladies.com/networking-events-leeds/international-womens-day-with-germaine-greer-karyn-mccluskey-272

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .