Welcome!
What is FAB? | Who can use it? | Cost | What kind of books? | More about FAB | Contact us
Please note: this website is under development. There will be a full catalogue on this website soon. The catalogue is currently being updated. For more information please contact Linda.
What is FAB?
FAB is an audio tape postal library service.
FAB produces and lends feminist, lesbian and woman-focused books (and other material) on audio tape.
Who can use it?
FAB members use our service.
Any woman who does not find it easy to read print, for whatever reason, can join FAB.
Does it cost anything to use FAB?
Membership costs £3 when you join.
It costs from 0p to £1.50 to borrow each book, depending on what a member can afford.
There may be a small charge for postage if the member is not entitled to use "Articles for the Blind" free postage labels.
FAB will not refuse any woman who cannot afford to pay. Note: we do not ask for proof of income.
What kind of books does FAB have to lend?
FAB has around 250 books on tape. Some examples of the type of books FAB has for loan are below.
Autobiography and biography.
Examples include:
Barbara Bell: Just Take Your Frock Off.
Autobiography: The daughter of a mill worker, had her lesbian
'initiation' in 1928. Since then she has never had time to be
lonely. She found women like her in the Girl Guide camps, London in the
Blitz and a Watford approved school to name a few! She has counselled, and
buddied lesbians and gays with aids.
4 tapes, read by Lia. 1999, Ourstory Books.
Rose Collis: A Trouser-Wearing Character : The Life And Times Of Nancy
Spain.
Lesbian studies/Biography: This fascinating biography reconstructs the life
and career of one of Britain's most extraordinary post-war female
characters. From 'Good Housekeeping' to 'The News of the
World'; from Woman's Hour to 'What's My Line?' and
including, of course, her famously camp crime novels such as 'Poison for
Teacher'.
16 tapes, read by Doreen. 1999, Cassell Academic
Sandi Toksvig: The Gladys Society.
Autobiography: Sandi was 8 when she first landed in America. Part
travelogue, part memoir this is Sandi's often hilarious and sometimes
moving account of her journey to the United States 30 years on.
7 tapes, read by Betty. 2002, Little Brown.
Detective and crime.
Examples include:
Kate Calloway: 1st Impressions; Second Fiddle; Third Degree; Fourth Down.
4 of Calloway's excellent lesbian detective novels featuring PI Cassidy
James.
Sarah Dreher: Stoner McTavish; Bad Company; Something Shadey.
3 of Dreher's entertaining lesbian detective novels featuring Stoner
McTavish, travel agent and reluctant private investigator.
Katherine V Forrest: Amateur City; Sleeping Bones; Murder At The
Nightwood Bar; Liberty Square; The Beverly Malibu; Hancock Park.
All novels with LAPD Detective Kate Delafield unravelling a variety of
mysteries.
Carole La Favour: Along The Journey River
When irreplaceable Ojibwa artefacts are stolen from the school on the Red
Earth reservation the community turns to Renee de Laroche: a two-spirit
whose dreams give her special insights into lives of her people.
5 tapes, read by Betty. 1996, Firebrand Books.
General fiction.
Examples include:
Gertrude Colmore: Suffragettes: A Story Of Three Women.
Suffragette novel written in 1911 in the midst of women's struggle for
the vote. The story of three women from different walks of life, who find a
common cause in the campaign for women's suffrage.
6 tapes, read by Kathy. 1984, Pandora Press.
Lee Lynch: That Old Studebaker.
This book addresses the questions about love that we all have rolling around
in our heads. There are many different characters, all have different
attitudes and ways of living their lives. Each character is refreshing and
the ride in the old Studebaker puts a nice perspective on coming out in a
straight world.
4 tapes, read by Betty. 1991, Naiad press.
Amanda Boulter: Around The Houses.
Anna is having a baby. The father is gay. Her lover is a woman and still
hasn't told her parents. This is a funny, telling tale about a
neighbourhood where different identities, sexualities and communities
generate conflict, humour and wacky situations in equal measure.
5 tapes, read by Chris. 2002, Serpent's Tail.
Science fiction.
Includes:
B C Brojim: Cognate
Lesbian Science Fiction: 'Minority Fleet' Captain Dani Forrest
encounters the beautiful and mysterious Captain Ki whilst dealing with
illness and systems failures on-board her own ship, the 'Boadicea'.
Meanwhile landing party crew from both ships are missing on the planetoid
below. Interstellar war threatens if Dani makes the wrong move.
7 tapes, read by Elaine. 2000, Women's Work Press LLC,
Jane Fletcher: The World Celaeno Chose.
Science Fiction: In a world without men, imprinter Lynn has a vital gift-the
ability to link strands of DNA to create new life. Owned by the Temple, she
leads a life of quiet despair, shut away forever from the world outside.
Then into her life comes Kim; part of a squadron assigned to protect her on
the journey Landfall. Kim is drawn to the lonely young imprinter, but as the
two women grow closer, they know they are putting themselves in grave
danger.
7 tapes, read by Christine. 1999, Dimsdale Press.
Sally Miller Gearheart: The Wanderground.
Feminist Science Fiction: The Wanderground is populated by self-sufficient
women, who have developed their mental powers to be in tune with the natural
and animal world. Their contacts with the nearby male-dominated city are
dangerous but increasingly necessary.
6 tapes, read by Elaine. 1985, Women's Press
Feminist and Lesbian Poetry
Ruth Harris: Love By Proxy.
'My poetry is not for the fainthearted, yet, it will give strength to
those who feel weak and at a loss for words'
1 tape, read by Ruth Harris. 1992, Words for Bread.
Irena Klepfisz: Different Enclosures.
Endurance, repression, survival, exclusion, absurdity and work are the
themes which drive this relentless poetry. Irena says, "I write as much
out of a Jewish consciousness as I do out of a lesbian feminist
consciousness. They are both embedded in my writing, for in many ways they
are the same. Alienated. Threatened. Individual. Defiant."
1 tape, read by Chris. 1985, Onlywomen Press.
Grace Nicholls: The Fat Black Woman's Poems.
Collection of poetry by a British based Black woman born in Guyana.
1 tape, read by Juliette. 1984, Virago.
non-fiction feminist, women's studies and lesbian books,
Jill Gardiner: From The Closet To The Screen: Women At The Gateways Club,
1945-1985.
Lesbian History: Frequented in its 50 year history by ordinary women and
those in the public eye, such as Dusty Springfield and Maureen Duffy, the
Gateways on Chelsea's King's Road became the most famous lesbian
club in the world, featuring in the movie "The Killing of Sister
George" in 1968. Eighty women recall this secret world, many of them
speaking publicly for the first time. Their stories are moving, humorous,
romantic and erotic during a period of social transformation when lesbians
moved from the secrecy of the closet whatever the consequences.
10 tapes, read by Betty. 2003, Pandora.
Olga Kenyon (Ed.): 800 Years Of Women's Letters
Women's History: Explores the tradition of female letter-writing from
the 12th Century to the present day. Famous (Jane Austen, Queen Victoria,
Virginia Woolf) and lesser-known women reveal their day-to-day lives and the
restricted world they inhabited.
13 tapes, read by Doreen. 1993, Faber & Faber.
Adrienne Rich: Of Woman Born: Motherhood As Experience And Institution.
Motherhood: An imaginative blend of memoir and history, 'Of Woman
Born' is a view of women's role as mother throughout history.
Drawing on anthropology, medicine, psychology, literature, history and her
own experiences, Adrienne Rich triumphantly explores the pleasures and pains
of motherhood.
10 tapes, read by Elaine. 1986, Virago (First published W.W. Norton &
Co, 1976, and in Virago, 1977)
More information about FAB
FAB's aims are:
- To run a postal tape library service for our members.
- To make available, when possible, books, magazines, newsletters and other printed material not usually available through commercial or other library sources in audio tape form.
- To create a network of disabled and non-disabled women who will work together to provide feminist, lesbian and woman-focused audio titles requested by the membership.
How do books get read?
FAB has women volunteer readers who read the books in their own homes. Readers give whatever time they can, ranging from several hours a week to one hour a month.
How is FAB funded?
At the moment FAB has very little money. It is running on contributions from members and other individuals. FAB is now seeking funding to maintain and improve the service.
Where did FAB come from?
FAB was first set up in the 1980s by a group of visually impaired women who wanted access to feminist texts and could not find them anywhere on tape. FAB was re-launched in 2000. By then more feminist books were on tape so the emphasis moved to more (though not only) lesbian and woman-focussed novels, as these are still hard to find on tape.
Contact us
Feminist Audio Books
Phone: 0161 273 8038
Email: books(AT)feministaudiobooks.org.uk (replace (AT) with @)
Postal address:
FAB c/o The Pankhurst Centre 60 - 62 Nelson Street Manchester M13 9WP
For more information, please contact Linda by phone, email, or post on tape, in Braille or print.