Callil

More than 40 years ago when Carmen and I were working late in the first Virago office on Wardour Street I asked her why she founded the feminist publisher. She answered: “To change the world, darling, that’s why.” And by God, that’s exactly what she did.The idea came to her in 1972 and the press was initially registered as Spare Rib Books. By June 1973 Virago was officially a publishing company and I am utterly devastated that Carmen will not be with us next year to celebrate her brainchild’s 50th birthday. Famously not a…

Carmen Callil, the publisher and writer who championed female writers and transformed the canon of English literature, has died of leukemia in London on Monday aged 84. The news was confirmed by her agent.Callil began as a campaigning outsider, founding the feminist imprint Virago Press, where she published contemporary bestsellers including Margaret Atwood, Maya Angelou and Angela Carter. She challenged the male-dominated canon of English literature by bringing back into print a list of modern classics by authors…