Welcome to My Canadian Feminist Reading Journey
An introduction to the 2026 themed series — a love letter to books and the women who light the way
If you’ve landed here, you’re among friends — book lovers, justice seekers, movement builders, and people who believe in the power of women’s voices. Before we dive into this year-long series of themed feminist reading posts, I want to start with something personal: my absolute, wholehearted love of reading.
Books have been my companions for as long as I can remember. My library card has seen more action than any credit card I’ve ever owned. There is nothing quite like the feeling of turning a page and turning a corner — stepping into a world built by women fighting, creating, imagining, organizing, legislating, resisting, and dreaming. Books have held me steady when life was wobbly and sharpened me when I needed clarity. They’ve shaped the feminist I am today.
Reading is where I unlearn, relearn, and learn again. It’s where I meet women across time — some fierce, some quiet, all unforgettable — and it’s where I do my deepest political thinking. Books have taught me how movements are made from relationships and grit; how reproductive justice is inseparable from racial, economic, and disability justice; how the courtroom can be both a battlefield and a birthplace of rights; and how our history is full of brilliant, complicated women whose stories deserve to be known.
Why This Series? Why Now?
Over the years, I’ve built a collection of Canadian feminist nonfiction that I return to again and again — not because it’s comforting (often, it’s not), but because it’s grounding. These books don’t just document our history; they make it. They map our lineage and illuminate who we’ve been, who we are, and who we’re still becoming.
This series gathers that work into curated, themed posts that trace the many layers of feminist thought, activism, and history in Canada. Think of them not just as reading lists, but as maps — a way to travel through ideas and across generations.
Throughout 2026, we’ll explore:
- Where our movements began — essential Canadian feminist history
- Legal trailblazers — the women and cases that reshaped Canada’s courts and Constitution
- Reproductive justice — the fight for bodily autonomy and the coalitions that built it
- Trailblazers & icons — women who built this country and changed the conversation
- Activism & movement-building — organizing, strategy, and the politics of care
- Indigenous feminisms — sovereignty, land, law, and resurgence
- Black Canadian feminist thought — scholarship, organizing, culture, and community
- Queer and trans feminisms — liberation, safety, creativity, and law
- Feminist economics & labour — care, wages, policy, and power
- Family law & rights in everyday life — how systems shape our intimate worlds
Each theme braids history with present-day relevance and the personal with the political — because that’s what reading has always been for me: a bridge between the page and the world.
What Books Mean to Me as a Feminist
Books are my teachers and my companions. They’re where I sit with complexity, let myself be challenged, and find language for things I’ve felt but never named. I love the dog‑eared pages, the margins full of startled stars and exclamation points, the stack from the library that feels like possibility. Reading keeps me honest. It reminds me that our movements are built by people — imperfect, brilliant, stubborn, generous — and that we inherit this work as much as we choose it.
This series isn’t just about recommendations; it’s about lineage. It’s about honouring the women whose words and actions light our way — and inviting more of us to pick up the thread.
These posts are meant to be both practical and deeply personal — a resource and a reflection. A bookshelf, a study guide, and a journal entry, all in one place.
Walk With Me Through the Year Ahead
My hope is that this series feels like sitting down with a friend who presses a book into your hands and says, “You need to read this.” Because that’s what I want these books to be for you: invitations, catalysts, companions.
Whether you’re new to Canadian feminism or you’ve been in the struggle for decades, I’m so glad you’re here. Let’s read widely, think deeply, and keep building a feminist future rooted in knowledge, solidarity, and imagination.
The first themed post — Where Our Movements Began: Essential Canadian Feminist History — is up next.
Let’s open the first page together.
— Canadian Feminist
