2026 Between 1914 and 1921, work by poet Wilfrid Gibson appeared in Sylvia Pankhurst’s socialist feminist paper the Woman’s Dreadnought. Their association throws light on the interwoven social, political and cultural networks of the time, and on Gibson’s commitment to ‘Art for Life’s Sake’: poetry as a form of activism.
In this letter from 1980, writer and activist Ethel Mannin (1900-1984) refers to her own involvement with anarchism, and comments on anarchists Emma Goldman, Marie Louise Berneri and Kitty Lamb. I had written asking if she would agree to be interviewed by members of the anarchist feminist history group, as part of our research into … Continue reading Research note November 2025: a letter from Ethel Mannin
2024. When British poet and aphorist Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne described herself in ‘Who’s Who’ as a suffragist, socialist and freethinker, she was actively constructing a public identity not just as a writer, but as an activist. But identities can’t be so neatly categorised and controlled. Paper given at the Womens’ History Network annual conference.
2023. British poet Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne contributed to the ferment of new ideas about art, religion, poetry and politics in the early twentieth century. She was a suffragist, socialist and freethinker as well as a poet, and her social networks included artists, feminists, reformers and revolutionaries.
This 1977 discussion paper by Lynn Alderson argues for the relevance of anarchist ideas to autonomous feminist organising. It includes her new afterword contextualising and reflecting on those earlier debates.
Provides some basic information about Elizabeth Gibson, and links to my articles about her. As I continue to research her life and work, new material will be added.
2016. Compares the changing responses to the First World War in the writings of Wilfrid Gibson and his sister and fellow poet Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne. Revised version of article published in Dymock Poets and Friends, No 15.
This is a very brief preliminary attempt to give a bit of context to interviews carried out by myself and Lynn Alderson in 1977, in which women activists in the UK discussed anarchism, feminism and the relationship between the personal and the political. See Anarchism and Feminism: Voices from the Seventies for the interviews and further … Continue reading Notes towards an introduction
2014 (1977). Women activists speak about anarchism, feminism and the interrelationship of the personal and the political in interviews from 1977 by Lynn Alderson and Judy Greenway.
2014. Committed to ‘Art for Life’s Sake’, both poets wrote about suffering, injustice and social responsibility. Similarities and differences in their beliefs show in the form and content of their work. Article from Dymock Poets & Friends, No. 13.