Ladies of Literature: Volume 2

by Arielle Jovellanos

October 20, 2015

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Ladies of Literature Vol. 2 is the product of a Kickstarter I backed. I cannot remember how I came across this awesome project, but I’m pretty sure it was some perfect storm of social media. LoL (love that acronym) is a gorgeously illustrated anthology of female authors and characters from over a hundred talented artists. I’m all for supporting kickass, creative individuals who want to celebrate their love of literature, especially the female characters who’ve inspired them or made a mark on them in some way.

My reward arrived a couple weeks ago. I pledged $40 and received a physical copy of Ladies of Literature Vol. 2, a limited edition reprint of their first volume, a bookmark, and a random postcard of one of the illustrations inside. Oddly enough, after looking through volume two, my postcard wound up being one of my favorite illustrations in the book: a Medusa for the modern age.

Each page is taken up completely by the illustration. There’s no text or anything on the pages of art, which I love because the artwork really is the star of the show. With so many collaborators in this project, there’s also a variety of art styles: incredibly detailed, minimalist, cartoony, realistic. There’s an incredible amount of diversity in the way these artists illustrate their subjects. But there’s also diversity in the characters as well.

To name a few:
Nasuada from Eragon
Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird
Sabriel from Sabriel
Professor Trelawney from Harry Potter
Jo March from Little Women
Tehanu from A Wizard of Earthsea
Dr. Susan Calvin from I, Robot
Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables
Mildred Hubble from The Worst Witch
Claudia from The Baby Sitter’s Club

I honestly wish I could list them all, but there are over 100 pages of artwork, which means over a hundred awesome literary ladies. At the end of the illustrations is an index, so if you don’t recognize who the character is in the illustration, just flip to the back. There, you’ll also find the name of the artist, their Tumblr or website URL, and their comments on why they chose to illustrate a particular character.

Artist Wendi Chen on illustrating Lady Almathea/Unicorn from The Last Unicorn:

I chose to illustrate Lady Almathea from The Last Unicorn, as I have always admitted her grace and quiet strength. I wanted to capture the very moment she turns into a human woman, when she overcomes her fear of becoming mortal for a greater cause.

Seriously, this book is amazing. I had it sitting on the coffee table when one of my roommates came home. She picked it up and started searching for characters she recognized, squeeing the entire time. It such a great celebration of women in literature, especially those who have shaped us as readers.

But now it’s time for the bad news. I reached out to Arielle and Janet, who coordinated the Kickstarter, about where to get copies if you weren’t a backer of the project. They said your best bet, for now, is to try and find artists who are selling their extra complimentary copies in their personal stores.

You can take a peek at some of the pieces included inside at the Ladies of Literature Tumblr, and they also have a full list of contributing artists if you want to hunt down copies. I did manage to find some (not sure how many) for sale in artist Stephanie Kao’s store.

While it’s a great gift for any ladies who love literature in your life, you’re going to be really tempted to keep this one for yourself.

And I’m already awaiting a volume three!