The Feminist Know-It-All: You know her. You can’t stand her. Good thing she’s not here! Instead, this column by gender and women’s studies librarian Karla Strand will amplify stories of the creation, access, use and preservation of knowledge by women and girls around the world; share innovative projects and initiatives that focus on information, literacies, libraries and more; and, of course, talk about all of the books.
Hello, feminist reader friends! Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups. The aims of these lists are threefold:
- I want to do my part in the disruption of what has been the acceptable “norm” in the book world for far too long—white, cis, heterosexual, male;
- I want to amplify indie publishers and amazing works by writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APIA/AAPI, international, queer, trans, nonbinary, disabled, fat, immigrant, Muslim, neurodivergent, sex-positive or of other historically marginalized identities—you know, the rest of us; and
- I want to challenge and encourage you all to buy, borrow and read them!
While I draft this introduction, I am watching a wonderful panel presentation live on YouTube in honor of We Are Each Other’s Liberations: Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities (Haymarket Books, 2025), which I covered in the October 2025 column.
In addition to the editors, Rachel Kuo, Jaimee Swift, and TD Tso, the panel is rounded out by contributors Beverley Bryan, Pratibha Parmar and Margo Okazawa-Rey. (Big love for DJ MOR, IYKYK!) What a dream panel!
It’s been a rich and refreshing discussion of solidarities across race, generations and geographies. The panelists shared their views on coming together, collaborating and the tensions that can arise when working collectively to fight multiple oppressions. They reflected on historical legacies and the current crises in the US and across the world.
It left me energized and with a bit more hope than I came in with, so for that I am grateful. I encourage you to check out both the panel discussion and the book.
Until then, check out this month’s list of 24 books.
Wishing you a powerful, inspired and liberatory Women’s History Month!
By Rebecca Solnit. Haymarket Books. Out March 3.
In her latest, Rebecca Solnit looks back on the big changes in the world throughout the last 60+ years. I, for one, appreciate the reminder that this type of dramatic change can take time, iteration and interconnection.
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By Candis Watts Smith. W. W. Norton & Company. Out March 3.
In Black Evidence, Candis Watts Smith highlights the dangerous ramifications of the continuous denial of Black oppression. This is powerful testimony of reckoning with the past to demand a more equitable and democratic future.
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By Dorothy Tse. Graywolf Press. Out March 3.
From the author of Owlish comes this surreal and sobering story of a future in which people keep disappearing. Underneath the unsettling imagery and nightmarish narrative is an all-too-real message we must heed before it’s too late.
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By Savala Nolan. Mariner Books. Out March 3.
This collection of evocative autobiographical essays explores a variety of topics with refreshing candor, including love, sex, divorce, motherhood, misogyny and the legacies of slavery.
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By Camonghne Felix. One World. Out March 3.
Acclaimed poet Camonghne Felix presents a convincing case for the revolutionary power of language when partnered with imagination, ethics and poetics. Part memoir, part manifesto, Let the Poets Govern is filled with radical vulnerability and candid reflection.
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By Rana Barakat. The University of North Carolina Press. Out March 3.
For historian Rana Barakat, a journey to and through Palestine is one she takes with her ancestors, both near and far. Through evocative storytelling, Barakat draws “emotional maps” of the journey and shares them here as lessons in Palestinian survivance, historical intervention and Indigenous refusal.
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By Kim Fu. Tin House. Out March 3.
In The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts, Eleanor buys a house to grant her mother’s dying wish. Atmospheric and measured, this is a different kind of haunted house story. Brilliantly written, it explores grief, isolation, capitalism and coming of age.
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By Nadine Takvorian. Levine Querido. Out March 10.
This lovingly illustrated graphic novel tells the story of a girl searching for the truth of her family and the Armenian genocide. Based on her family’s experiences, Nadine Takorvian’s debut sheds essential light on this devastating atrocity and people’s potential for hope and survivance.
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By Jamilah Lemieux. Roc Lit 101. Out March 10.
Deeply personal and lovingly written, this collection of essays and interviews is a powerful testament to Black single mothers. Jamilah Lemieux is the best person to write this remarkable book.
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By Jeannine A. Cook. Amistad. Out March 10.
Jeannine Cook is back with this inspirational memoir-manifesto detailing her founding of Harriet’s Bookshop and how it survived the COVID pandemic to become the thriving ecosystem it is today.
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By Avery Curran. Doubleday. Out March 10.
An unexpected death at a girls’ boarding school marks only the beginning of what is a dread-inducing, vicious, horrifyingly entertaining ride through queer adolescence. This gothic debut novel is the stuff of nightmares and fantasies.
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By Ñusta Carranza Ko. University of California Press. Out March 10.
In this hard-hitting volume, Ñusta Carranza Ko examines the campaign of sterilization of impoverished, rural and Indigenous people undertaken by the government of Alberto Fujimori in Peru. Ko weaves together archival research, government documents and interviews to ensure survivors’ stories will not be forgotten.
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By T Kira Madden(Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian)). Mariner Books. Out March 10.
If you enjoyed T Kira Madden’s memoir, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, you’ll be blown away by her debut novel, a captivating thriller about three women and the dead man tying them together.
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By Emma Baccellieriand Jordan Robinson. Black Dog & Leventhal. Out March 17.
Complete with statistics, timelines and quotes from the most important players and coaches in the history of the game, this big, beautiful volume celebrates the milestones and rivalries, the giant wins and the heartbreaking losses and the influence of the game on women and society.
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By Durba Mitra. Princeton University Press. Out March 17.
Historian Durba Mitra has written this rich and enlightening examination of Third World feminism, including its origins, hopes, challenges and visions for the future. Deeply researched, this is a valuable and engaging volume.
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By Lai Sanders. Simon & Schuster. Out March 17.
How far is too far? This is the question Lai Sanders dives into, along with conversations of privilege, race, gender and heritage, in this stunning debut revenge thriller about two women determined to reclaim what they believe they deserve.
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By Nani Jansen Reventlow. Pluto Press. Out March 20.
Award-winning international human rights lawyer Nani Jansen Reventlow has written this sharp examination of the work we must do to fight oppression and build the liberatory world we all need. Bursting with wisdom and examples from around the world, this is an urgent debut.
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Edited by Raouf Farrahand Suraya Dadoo. Pluto Press. Out March 20.
This groundbreaking anthology highlights the common threads of genocide, apartheid, oppression and settler colonialism in Gaza and African countries such as Namibia, South Africa, Congo and Kenya. Contributors offer well-researched histories and impassioned narratives on complicity, law, resistance, media, feminism and more.
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By Rhae Lynn Barnes. Liveright. Out March 24.
This was one of the books I was most intrigued by this year, and I was not disappointed. Long overdue, it’s a history of blackface and minstrelsy that is truly groundbreaking. It’s this month’s (year’s?) #RequiredReading.
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By Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Chippewa). Harper. Out March 24.
Beautifully illustrated by her daughter, this collection of short stories by the incomparable Louise Erdrich centers on themes of life and death, the real and the surreal, the mundane and the extraordinary. Erdrich brings her signature elegance and gritty honesty to each.
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Written by Balsam Karam. Translated by Saskia Vogel. The Feminist Press at CUNY. Out March 31.
Event Horizon features a world where women and girls are relegated to the Outskirts, with no rights or legal status. After she’s framed for starting a riot, Milde is sent into a black hole as a punishment in this original and haunting English-language debut.
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By Khiara Bridges. The MIT Press. Out March 31.
By now, you’ve heard the stark statistics about Black maternal health in the U.S. Thankfully, Khiara Bridges has written this remarkable volume addressing the issues and providing us with vital ways forward.
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Edited by Elaine B. Richardson, Gwendolyn D. Poughand Treva B. Lindsey. University of California Press. Out March 31.
This edited volume of remarkable essays explores the current moment through the lenses of queer Black feminism and hip hop. It includes contributions from Moya Bailey, shea wesley martin, Andreana Clay and more.
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By Kayla Hardy. Ballantine Books. Out Mar. 31.
Set in racially divided 1840s New Orleans, this debut novel is the perfect historical fantasy with a supernatural flair. Full of political intrigue, Voodoo, betrayals and alliances, and a complex mother-daughter dynamic, Kayla Hardy has written a tale for the ages.
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Also releasing this month:
All the World Can Hold
By Jung Yun. 37 Ink. Out March 10.
Defying China: A Memoir
By Tsultrim Dolma with Rebecca Wei Hsieh. Out March 10.
Abolition Archives, Feminist Futures
By Kathi Weeks. Duke University Press. Out March 17.
Hooked: A Novel
Written by Asako Yuzuki. Translated by Polly Barton. Ecco. Out March 17.
I Love You Don’t Die: A Novel
By Jade Song. William Morrow. Out March 17.
Sisters in Yellow: A Novel
Written by Mieko Kawakami. Translated by Laurel Taylor and Hitomi Yoshio. Knopf. Out March 17.
The Inattention Economy: How Women of Color Built the Internet
By Lisa Nakamura. University of Minnesota Press. Out March 24.
Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories
By Amal El-Mohtar. Tordotcom. Out March 24.
American Han: A Novel
By Lisa Lee. Algonquin Books. Out March 31.
Heartbreak and Other Geographies: Collected Writings of Katherine McKittrick
Written by Katherine McKittrick. Edited by Brittany Meché and Camilla Hawthorne. University of Minnesota Press. Out March 31.
Great Job Karla J. Strand & the Team @ Ms. Magazine for sharing this story.
