I have just experienced the thrill of reading a good friend’s (very) short story on a fantastic new website called FEMMEUARY! Katie Nevison published a delightfully playful piece called ‘Venus Fly Trap’ on FEMMEUARY! today (well, technically it was yesterday, since it is now past midnight). Written in fresh, poetic language that successfully evokes a luscious (and dangerous) natural landscape, it is a sensuous story with mythic resonance and a cracking last line: ‘But why would Venus bother with a fly?’

Don’t just take my word for it: have a read for yourself, here.

When I started writing this post, I thought FEMMEUARY! was an established website and was disappointed (but also excited) when I discovered via their Facebook page that it is in fact not a website but, I quote, ‘a collaborative blog, for those interested, aggravated or enlightened by feminism. FEMMEUARY! is a group for feminists or anybody interested in feminism. We are looking for people to write articles for our blog which will be published throughout, er, Febuary [sic! Ladies, where is the first ‘r’ in February??] and plugged by Sick Chirpse Magazine’.

I was disappointed because I realised that this wasn’t a new (but permanent) forum for brand new prose and poetry, thoughtful articles and original graphics all devoted to exploring the position and condition of women in the twenty-first century, but instead that this is a temporary collaborative blog. I had twigged the February connection (and the connection with Movember too) but had hoped that this was simply referring to the month in which this fabulous new venture had been inaugurated – was that so naive of me?

But discovering the true identity of FEMMEUARY! also excited me because what could be a better idea than a site that looks like an arts-and-opinion website and acts like an arts-and-opinion website but isn’t a website at all but a collaborative blog? Yes, let the internet be the harbinger of truly democratic art! And a free-for-all forum for discussing a subject that affects every single one of us – because as long as there are women in the world, feminism will ALWAYS be relevant! (I think this might be a cue to dredge up an essay I once wrote about feminism being the one ‘ism’ that is female-centred, as opposed to all the other ‘isms’ that have been created by men for men.) And of course this is exciting because now I can get involved too!

So this evening has brought me two delightful discoveries: I have seen my friend’s published words on screen, and I have made the acquaintance of a quirky feministic collaborative blog. Best of all, I still have almost two weeks of February to delight in forthcoming FEMMEUARY! posts.