Intersectional Feminist Reading Challenge

Dearest readers and book lovers,

I would like to invite you to undertake an adventure to expand your intellectual horizons and become a force for change in the world.

Please join me and the community here at Disorient in the Intersectional Feminist Reading Challenge.

If you’re new here and aren’t completely sure what intersectional feminism is, please review my detailed explainer. Then come back and use this reading challenge as the perfect opportunity to propel your learning further.

No matter if you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned intellectual activist, this intersectional feminist reading challenge will be a great way to share your journey and struggle with like-minded folks.

How to Participate

1. Enter your name and email in the signup form and the PDF tracker will be sent to you. The tracker works both as a fillable form and a printable. You can type your book selections into the text boxes or you can print the sheet out and have it pinned up on your wall or fridge.
2. The reading challenge provides six categories of books to help guide your selections:
   • Book by an Indigenous writer
   • Book by an LGBTQIA+ writer
   • Collection of writings
   • Book of poetry
   • Book with a color in the title (black and white are allowed)
   • Book on the Disorient reading list
     Take some time to brainstorm what you’d like to read in each category. You can write your idea/s in each of the category boxes.
     If you’re unsure about which books to choose, I’ll include a few sample challenges for you at the end of this post.
3. Set a challenge level. By default, if you chose one book per category, you’ll have six books for the year, which would be a terrific achievement. Especially if you’re new to intersectional feminism, include some short digestible books written for a broader audience rather than get bogged down with multiple 500-page academic tomes. If you’d like to really up the ante for yourself, you can choose two books or more in some or all of the categories.
4. The mix of non-fiction or fiction is completely up to you. I have suggestions for an all-fiction version of this challenge in the next section.
5. Share your challenge on social media (with the hashtag #IntersectionalReads) or your own blog. Include a link back to this page so your friends and family can get inspired by your quest for growth and join the challenge too.

Ideas for Reading Lists

The Complete Beginner to Intersectional Feminism

• Book by an Indigenous writer: Life Stages and Native Women: Memory, Teachings, and Story Medicine by Kim Anderson
• Book by an LGBTQIA+ writer: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
• Collection of writings: This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (4th ed.) by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa
• Book of poetry: The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde
• Book with a color in the title: Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
• Book on the Disorient reading list: White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

The Seasoned Intersectional Feminist

• Book by an Indigenous writer: Talkin’ Up To The White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism edited by Aileen Moreton-Robinson (20^th Anniversary ed.)
• Book by an LGBTQIA+ writer: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
• Collection of writings: Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
• Book of poetry: Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks
• Book with a color in the title: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• Book on the Disorient reading list: Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality by Jennifer C. Nash

The Fiction-Lover

• Book by an Indigenous writer: The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
• Book by an LGBTQIA+ writer: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
• Collection of writings: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Book of poetry: The Monkey’s Mask by Dorothy Porter
• Book with a color in the title: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• Book on the Disorient reading list: I don’t have any fiction on my reading list yet, so here I’ll recommend The Power by Naomi Alderman

My Own Reading List

I’ll also be joining you all in the 2021 intersectional feminist reading challenge. I hope to expand my own knowledge and add more recommendations to my ever-growing Readings and Resources page.

• Book by an Indigenous writer: As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
• Book by an LGBTQIA+ writer: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
• Collection of writings: Sharing Breath: Embodied Learning and Decolonization edited by Sheila Batacharya and Yuk-Lin Renita Wong
• Book of poetry: Not Vanishing by Chrystos
• Book with a color in the title: Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene Carruthers
• Book on the Disorient reading list: I want to choose something I haven’t read but would like to consider it for the reading list so I’ll be reading Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown

Join Us!

You set the pace.

I suggest either completing this challenge in six months (one book a month) or a year (one book every two months).

The most voracious readers among you may want to set yourself the challenge to read six books in one month!

Choose your books and share your personal reading goals on social media using the hashtag #IntersectionalReads and include a link back to this post for your family, friends, and followers. Your book suggestions may help inspire another fellow reader.

Learn More

See the Readings and Resources page to choose your book for the 6th category.

Featured image by cottonbro