Our Latitude panel pick their feminist classics…

This weekend we brought a phenomenal panel of women together at Latitude Festival for a very special Women’s Prize for Fiction event. Read on to find out which books our fantastic panelists picked as their favourite feminist classic, plus a chance to win a stack of these brilliant books!

Prize founder director and bestselling novelist Kate Mosse chaired a lively discussion themed around ‘Who owns the new feminism? Whose voice is it anyway?’ with an exceptional panel including writer and bestselling author Dolly Alderton, broadcaster, writer and campaigner Leyla Hussein, author and activist Juno Dawson, journalist and writer and broadcaster and comedian Natalie Haynes.

The discussion was kicked off by Dolly Alderton talking about the importance of supporting other women: ‘For me feminism is about sisterhood. It’s about survival.’

Natalie Haynes then took the floor to discuss the gender pay gap and knowing your worth, saying: ‘When women ask for more money they’re seen as being bitchy and grabbing, when a man does it they’re being ambitious.’

Leyla Hussein then mentioned the need for better representation for Muslim women: ‘The idea of Muslim women being oppressed as portrayed in the Western media is something I don’t recognise.’

Juno Dawson talked about how she sees feminism as an investment in other women: ‘It’s always been much more important to me to cultivate female friendships than boyfriends.’

Finally, Kate Mosse asked each panelist for their favourite feminist classic. Dolly Alderton picked Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (‘It galvanised me about gender double standards around sexual freedom’), Natalie Haynes picked Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (‘You should know Beauvoir. Even if you disagree with her, you should know her’, Leyla Hussein picked Daring to Drive by Manal Al-Sharif (‘If you want to read a book about women changing the world, this is the one’) and Juno Dawson picked Forever by Judy Blume (‘I read it when I was eleven. It was way ahead of its time. It features abortion, a gay character, it has it all.’)

Inspired? Head to the Women’s Prize Twitter for a chance to win all four of our panelists’ brilliant book choices!*

*Find our competition terms and conditions here.