New Words Bookstore

New Words Bookstore

Company type	Feminist bookstore
Industry	Retail (Books)
Founded	1974
Founder	Rita Arditti, Gilda Bruckman, Mary Lowry, Jean MacRae
Defunct	2002
Successor	Center for New Words (CNW)
Headquarters	Cambridge, Massachusetts , United States
Area served	United States (international standing)
Key people	Rita Arditti, Gilda Bruckman, Mary Lowry, Jean MacRae, Madge Kaplan, Kate Rushin, Laura Zimmerman, Doris Reisig, Joni Seager
Products	Books, feminist literature, events programming

Template:Use mdy dates

File:186 hampshire.jpg

186 Hampshire Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 2022. This building became home to the New Words bookstore starting in 1976.

New Words Bookstore was a feminist bookstore situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1974, it was among the pioneering feminist bookstores in the United States and relocated to a larger location two years after opening. The bookstore earned an international standing and, by 1989, was recognized as the highest-grossing feminist bookstore in the nation. Following its closure in 2002, the Center for New Words (CNW) carried on its mission until 2008, when it ceased operations; some of its initiatives were later assumed by Women, Action & the Media (WAM!).

Founding and Early Development

New Words, A Women's Bookstore, commenced operations on April 6, 1974, in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was one of the first feminist bookstores nationally and played a significant role in the emerging global feminist-bookstore and women-in-print movements.

The bookstore’s four founders—Rita Arditti, Gilda Bruckman, Mary Lowry, and Jean MacRae—were introduced through shared acquaintances. Rita Arditti was a biologist; Gilda Bruckman worked at a bookstore near Harvard Square; Mary Lowry practiced as an optician; and Jean MacRae was completing graduate studies at Harvard Divinity School. Pooling their resources to the amount of $15,000, they established one of Boston’s earliest women-centered spaces. The initial location was at 419 Washington Street in Somerville.

File:New Words bookmark c.1980.jpg

New Words bookmark circa 1980

In January 1976, New Words relocated to a more spacious venue at 186 Hampshire St in Cambridge (Inman Square), an area known at the time for vibrant feminist activity. Alongside New Words, this building accommodated the Goddard Cambridge Graduate Program in Women's Studies, Focus—a feminist counseling collective—and the Boston Federal Feminist Credit Union. Nearby on Hampshire Street were other feminist institutions: two blocks away stood the Women's Community Health Center (feminist health centers), directly opposite it was Bread & Roses, a women-operated restaurant, and just down the street was Gypsy Wagon, a craft store owned by women. The Cambridge Women's Center was also within easy walking distance.

By the mid-1980s, additional members had joined the New Words collective including Madge Kaplan, Kate Rushin, Laura Zimmerman, Doris Reisig, and Joni Seager.

1990s–2002

During the late 1990s, the landscape of bookselling underwent significant changes, including the rise of online retailers and the expansion of major bookstore chains, which challenged the sustainability of women's bookstores and other independent bookstores. By 1998, most feminist-oriented businesses in Inman Square, where New Words was situated, had shuttered except for Focus Counseling, leading to a decline in customer traffic.Template:Fix/category

In response to these evolving conditions, the bookstore's co-owners established New Words Live in 1998 as a nonprofit entity designed to sustain the cultural events formerly hosted by the bookstore. This organization continued the author series and introduced additional programming such as a music series titled New Words Unplugged and open mic poetry nights.Template:Fix/category

In October 2000, New Words Live secured funding from the Ford Foundation to investigate sustainable frameworks for feminist bookstores across the United States, with an emphasis on strengthening their cultural and political influence. Leveraging community backing and this grant, New Words' leadership aimed to convert their accumulated expertise and community relationships into a financially independent nonprofit. Consequently, when the bookstore ceased operations in 2002, the Center for New Words (CNW) emerged as its successor organization.

Women authors at New Words

From its inception, the collective envisioned the bookstore as a platform where women could engage with innovative ideas and literary works.Template:Pn Central to the bookstore’s mission was its book-related programming, which embodied feminism’s literary and political forefront. The author events frequently attracted considerable attention and attendance. Over time, Boston-area audiences experienced readings from numerous prominent writers such as Dorothy Allison, Julia Alvarez, Ellen Bass, Alison Bechdel, Robin Becker, Kate Clinton, Blanche Wiesen Cook, Mary Daly, Edwidge Danticat, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cynthia Enloe, Eve Ensler, Lillian Faderman, Leslie Feinberg, Carol Gilligan, Jane Hamilton, Judith Lewis Herman, bell hooks, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, Robin Morgan, Tillie Olsen, Grace Paley, Pat Parker, Marge Piercy, Judith Plaskow, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Adrienne Rich, May Sarton, Marjane Satrapi, Alix Kates Shulman, Barbara Smith, Gloria Steinem, Wendy Wasserstein, and Jennifer Weiner, among many others.

Feminist cultural movements

Feminist bookstores played a crucial role in advancing the second wave of feminism. Beginning in the early 1970s, there was a surge in women's newspapers, magazines, journals, and independent publishing houses, which coincided with the emergence of women’s bookstores. Initially established in a handful of major urban centers, these bookstores gradually expanded across the nation. Some of the earliest examples included A Woman's Place in Oakland, Labyris Books and Womanbooks in New York City (both founded in 1972), Charis in Atlanta (1973), Toronto Women's Bookstore in Canada (1973), Amazon Bookstore Cooperative in Minneapolis (1974), and New Words in Cambridge (1974). New Words was among the founding members of the Feminist Bookstore Network, a North American collective initiated by Carol Seajay in 1976. By the late 1980s, over 120 feminist bookstores operated throughout the US and Canada, growing to approximately 175 by the mid-1990s. By 1989, New Words had become recognized as the largest feminist bookstore nationwide based on sales volume.

"Women in Print"

During the mid-1970s, New Words contributed to a vibrant feminist "women in print" movement that encompassed music production, newspapers, magazines, publishing ventures, and the development of political and social networks both nationally and internationally. The bookstore’s inventory featured works from numerous feminist and lesbian presses such as Daughters Inc., Diana Press, Persephone Press, Alice James Books, Naiad Press, Firebrand Books, Seal Press, Alta Press, Feminist Press, Virago Press, Crossing Press, Spinster's Ink Press, and Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. Smaller publishers like New England Free Press laid groundwork for later 'zine culture. Boston’s women's newspapers included titles like Sojourner, Sister Courage, Equal Times, and eventually Women's Review of Books. Local national magazines such as Second Wave and No More Fun and Games (published by Cell 16) were distributed locally. The Boston-based Gay Community News also covered feminist as well as lesbian and gay issues.

New Words was instrumental in pioneering awareness on various social topics. Mainstream publishers often turned to feminist bookstores for emerging trends and issues; New Words was among those influential sources. It was one of Boston’s first bookstores to offer an extensive nonsexist children’s book collection featuring stories about children from non-traditional family structures and those with disabilities. Its lesbian fiction section contained hundreds of titles, and it was among the few outlets providing literature addressing women and violence. The store also prominently showcased Black feminist writings from groups like the Combahee River Collective and Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press within its substantial African American section. International connections were reflected through journals such as Manushi (India), Femme (Mexico), and Spare Rib (UK). The bookstore hosted works by international women authors across fiction and nonfiction genres including Bessie Head and Nawal El Saadawi.

In addition to retail functions, New Words served as a key hub for political activism, feminist dialogues, self-help groups, and cultural events within the Boston area. Its Reading Room was accessible to community organizations for meetings. Groups such as the Alliance Against Sexual Coercion (related to sexual harassment activism), the initial organizing committee for Boston Women’s Fund, Moving Violations collective, Boston Dyke March planners, Rainbow Café (a queer academic women’s gathering), and a writers’ group for transgender individuals regularly convened at New Words.

By the mid-1980s, New Words also bridged activists with academic women’s studies programs by providing essential reading materials for emerging courses. Many instructors and students depended on the bookstore to access recent publications relevant to their studies; it became common for local women’s studies classes to organize visits to the store as part of their curriculum.

Awards, honors, and enduring impact

Throughout its history, New Words earned a variety of accolades and formal recognitions. The City of Cambridge officially acknowledged the organization; in 1998, it was honored with the "Small Business Award" from the Greater Boston Business Council, received the "Rosemary Dunn Dalton Award for Service to Women" from the Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance of Massachusetts, and was also presented with the "Women in Business" award by the Boston chapter of the National Organization for Women. Gilda Bruckman was distinguished with the 1999 "Astraea Foundation Independent Spirit Award," an honor created by Dorothy Allison in 1998 to celebrate "individuals or groups whose work with small presses and independent bookstores has played a critical role in supporting writers and introducing readers to voices that might otherwise remain unheard and unread."

The archival collections of both New Words Bookstore and the Center for New Words are preserved at the Schlesinger Library, part of the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Center for New Words

Upon the bookstore’s closure, its distinctive cultural and political programming was transitioned into an independent nonprofit organization known as the Center for New Words (CNW). Leadership included Gilda Bruckman, Joni Seager, and Laura Zimmerman, with former bookstore programming director Jaclyn Friedman continuing her role at CNW.

Situated within the Cambridge YWCA at Central Square, CNW aimed to promote women's diverse involvement across all stages of the "word cycle," encompassing literacy development, literary creation, and media opinion shaping. Nearly all CNW's offerings were free to participants. Many initiatives were developed collaboratively with local and national feminist and social justice organizations.

Maintaining New Words' legacy of feminist author readings, CNW hosted figures such as Marjane Satrapi, Robin Morgan, Suzan-Lori Parks, Dorothy Allison, among many others. Partnering with WGBH, numerous readings were broadcast via web streaming to audiences worldwide. New local programs introduced by CNW included a monthly spoken-word open mic; a cable TV show spotlighting local feminist writers; a discussion series titled Feminism and Dessert (later adopted by the Cambridge Women's Commission); feminist writing workshops featuring instructors like Patricia Powell and Michelle Tea; book groups centered on feminism and anti-racism; as well as a weekly writing group for women involved with On The Rise, a day program providing refuge for homeless women in Cambridge. This writing group, initiated in 2003, continues under Gilda Bruckman’s guidance.

CNW also launched "Taking Our Place in the Public Conversation," a project designed to counteract the marginalization of feminist perspectives in media and public discourse following 9/11. This initiative featured readings and dialogues with notable public affairs authors, activists, and commentators including Anne Garrels, Laura Flanders, Mary Frances Berry, and Molly Ivins. It also organized forums addressing topics overlooked by mainstream outlets such as women’s issues in Afghanistan—led by Saira Shah—and frontline war reporting from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan with journalist Anita Pratap.

Women, Action, and the Media (WAM!)

Further information: Jaclyn Friedman

In 2004, the initiative gave rise to the Women Action & the Media (WAM!) conference, co-established by Laura Zimmerman alongside Jaclyn Friedman. At that time, CNW faced a pivotal moment, mirroring broader cultural shifts: media's influence in politics and society was expanding; digital platforms were surpassing traditional print; and the underrepresentation of women in media spurred a revitalized feminist movement. By 2008, under the guidance of Chairs Elyse Cherry followed by Tina Brand, CNW's co-directors, staff, and board decided to conclude CNW’s role as an organization focused on various local and regional feminist efforts. The organization redirected its energy and funding toward supporting what became the independent entity Women, Action, & the Media (WAM!).

Similar organizations

• Amazon Bookstore Cooperative
• Toronto Women's Bookstore
• Silver Moon Bookshop

See also

• Feminism
• Feminist movement
• Lesbian literature
• List of lesbian periodicals