Hey kids! Want to help raise the visibility of women writers of the fantastic? With trumpet’s blare, let me unveil:
A Broad Universe Project for Women’s History Month: Women Authors on Wikipedia!
Women artists made a concerted effort recently to get more of them written into history. More people turn to Wikipedia than to any other source. Women are still largely missing unless they are the few really big names in history. Here’s Mary Shelley’s page. It’s fairly comprehensive, but there aren’t enough 20th C women with the same detail. Comprehensive is great, but every little bit helps.
Only 2% of the users edit Wikipedia. A huge percentage of them are male. And as time goes on fewer people are doing any editing, so diversity is bound to be an issue.
This is a great way for members who want to be more active in promoting ALL women around the world who write, especially those who write speculative fiction and to give them the recognition they deserve.
Interested in making a difference?
Here’s a video on the basics of editing Wikipedia I use this in my classes. That also links to lots more detailed videos. Here’s Wikipedia’s own page (which might show why so few people decide to edit the source).
But, don’t stop there! Share with us what you’ve done on our email list and on Facebook! Report back with “I added biographical to details to X” or “I linked to an academic study of Y” and show others how easy it is to do. Not a member of Broad Universe (why not?!) just share your links here.
I will collect these links here and show us how much we’ve accomplished during the month.
BROADS ASSEMBLE!
(I had to say it).
K. A. Laity 
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's New (to me) Authors Blog and commented:
HEY LADY – If you’re an author, writer, poet – Getta load of THIS challenge 🙂
Reblogged this on newauthoronline.
Reblogged this on Michael Janairo and commented:
What a great idea!
I’m guessing there are some people who would love to participate in this but who aren’t sure which authors to focus on. Anyone have recommendations of lists of female sf authors?
I could’ve sworn there used to be some such lists on various wikis (such as lists of works by women eligible for awards in a given year), but I’m not quickly finding them. Here are a few smaller lists to spark further ideas:
Nebula awards won by women: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_speculative_fiction#Nebula_Awards_Won_by_Women)
Great SF/F stories by women: (http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/07/mind-meld-great-sff-stories-by-women/)
Books and stories by Broad Universe members since 2001: (http://broaduniverse.org/catalog/)
A couple more lists:
101 female sf/f authors to read: http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/4363928.html
Jo Walton’s list of best sf by women 2001-2010: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/10/future-classics-best-science-fiction-by-women-written-2001-2010
And two more:
Female authors who debuted in the 1970s: http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/4820695.html
Female authors who debuted in the 1980s: http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/4822710.html
Thanks for those links, Jed. Fantastic idea!
Thanks, Jed. I was going to ask, carefully, if XY’s are welcome to join in, but I see that the answer is yes.
I followed a link here from an e-friend’s blog. I edit WP a fair bit. Here’s something more I can do, if I have the spoons for it.
Everyone is welcome! XYs are welcome to Broad Universe, too. You don’t have to be a woman to support women writers.
Thank you -I have been an editor on wikipedia but having enough information and sources about women is a challenge – Not just knowing the names but having the facts to hand. If I get a chance I’ll look into the suggestions above but if you have more ways and means for me to create pages just ping me there – Or if you have the details but would like a hand….
Thanks for the offer.