The Feminary Re-Collective: A Roundtable with Eleanor Holland, Helen Langa, Mab Segrest, and Cris South

Members of the Feminary Collective-Eleanor Holland (b. 1948), Helen Langa (b. 1945), Mab Segrest (b. 1949), and Cris South (b. 1950)-convened for a roundtable on July 10, 2024, to discuss the legacy of Minnie Bruce Pratt (1946-2023) and her work with the Durham, North Carolina, collective. First published as the Research Triangle Women's Liberation Newsletter in 1969, Feminary was rebranded first as Feminary Newsletter, then as a journal-Feminary: A Feminist Journal for the South Emphasizing the Lesbian Vision-in 1978. Holland, Langa, Pratt, Segrest, and South participated in the publication of Feminary from the mid-seventies until the collective's end in 1982. This roundtable discussion covers the social, political, historical, and personal contexts in which Feminary developed. Participants detail the emotional, intellectual, and physical labor involved in journal production, alongside the collective's political goals and common themes in various journal issues. Reflecting on their lives after Feminary, participants comment on the journal's lasting impact on them individually, as well as its cultural interventions. Peppered throughout the conversation are anecdotes and meditations on Pratt's poetry and her influence on roundtable participants, Feminary, and 20th and 21st-century U.S. social justice struggles.