Up Close & Personal: Lindy West and Thordis Elva

This March, in the lead up to International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating two new non-fiction books from international guests Lindy West (America) and Thordis Elva (Iceland).
 
Both women are powerful voices of contemporary feminism; both shaped by past experiences and travelling a unique road to share their very personal stories.

Lindy is familiar to many people, with a range of popular pieces going viral and igniting debate in recent times including 'How to Make a Rape Joke' on Jezebel; 'Hello, I Am Fat' on The Strangers; 'Break the Period Taboo: My Name is Lindy West and I Bleed' on The Guardian; and 'Ask Not for Whom the Bell Trolls; It Trolls for Thee' on This American Life.
 
Lindy’s memoir Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, is ‘part memoir and part cultural analysis’. Think Lena Dunham’s I’m Not That Kind of Girl or Clementine Ford’s Fight Like a Girl. 

Writing a full length memoir made Lindy to realise two very important things. “There’s a lot more at stake” she said in an interview with Vogue. “A blog post kind of disappears once you stop tweeting about it. But a book is a real physical thing that is in stores. People spend money on it. I was definitely more vulnerable in this that I’ve been before.”

As a writer whose reputation has been shaped by interactions with online trolls, this was an opportunity for Lindy to 'go a little bit deeper'.

“[Her] willingness to drop that armour and make it clear what a barrage of dismissive image, nasty tropes and online harassment have cost her over time.” - The Washington Post

“Shrill is a director’s commentary of sorts on her most memorable stories... there is good work that represents a decade of public services for which she deserves years of back pay.” - The New York Times
 
Lindy uses her trademark humour and kindness to tackle the big issues, with one simple aim: “I just hope it’ll give people permission to feel okay.

South of Forgiveness, described as non-fiction narrative, has sprung out of one traumatic incident that has deeply affected two individuals and resounded with millions across the world.
 
As a teenager Thordis was raped by her then-boyfriend Tom Stranger. Nine years later, having built a career as a social activist and writer Thordis began to examine her own experience. 
 
“…I broke my silence by writing to Tom and confronting him about the violence he subjected me to, in the hope that it would rid me of the blame I wrongfully shouldered. I expected no response at best, or a negative response at worst. The only thing I didn’t expect was the typed confession I got back from Tom, full of disarming regret. This led to a unique correspondence where we analysed that fateful night and the consequences it had for both of us. After eight years of writing, we felt it was time to face our past, once and for all. We decided to meet in the middle, flying half way across the world to South-Africa. The following week permanently changed our lives.”
 
South of Forgiveness is made of letters, emails, diary entries and reflections of the week Thordis and Tom spent together. Tom said to Thordis in one of their final meetings in South Africa “…there’s an awkward silence. A fear of digging deeper maybe. I just want to say something… I want to speak up, and minimize the chance of our history being repeated.” And so began the next stage of their journey, sharing their story in a public arena through both their book and their joint presentations.