Ladies who do a lot more than lunch: Iris & UVA women's center

-By Lisa

Last week, I spent a wonderful evening at the UVA Women’s Center, celebrating the release of the fall issue of Iris magazine.

The UVA Women’s Center does some great work in our community, promoting gender equality through various education and support services. They cover a variety of women's issues, offering lectures such as “Words Not Swords: Iranian Women Writers and the Green Movement”  and hosting vigils for the promotion of a healthy body image. They also provide counseling for individuals and groups, including a sexual assault recovery group.

The hot-off-the-press issue of Iris contains a variety of stories, from a profile of Cheryl Mills (Secretary Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff) to book reviews and memoir excerpts. Subscriptions to the magazine are just $10 for the year, or you can pick up a copy at the Women’s Center on 14th street. 

The highlight of the evening was a reading from UVA alumna and “local literary luminary" Emma Rathbone (I'm sorry, but I just had to quote that awesome alliteration from the invite.) Rathbone read from her witty and sarcastic new book, The Patterns of Paper Monsters. She discussed her inspiration and creative process but in the interest of maintaing good writing ju-ju, she remained tight lipped about the novel she is currently working on. Because seriously... you don't want to mess with the ju-ju.

If you are interested in obtaining help from the UVA Women’s Center or want to support the center and the 20,000 people they serve annually, please check out their website. 

For more from Lisa, check out www.justherejustnow.com