virago

Meredith is a stereotypical virago updated with modern libertarian notions.

Although Virago was far from the only women-led publishing house to emerge out of the feminist movement of the 1960s and ’70s, the company helped redefine what a commercial publishing house could look like, serving as a beacon for a generation of readers looking for books that were written by and for women, in contrast to the male-dominated offerings of traditional publishers.

Guided in its early years by Ms. Callil and four other female directors, Virago published contemporary writers including Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Pat Barker, Helen Garner and Adrienne Rich.

Its name, Virago, came from a classical term for a warrior woman, and was plucked from a book about goddesses that she was reading with Boycott.

From her attic apartment above a west London synagogue, Ms. Callil met with authors including Mary Chamberlain, whose nonfiction book “Fenwomen: A Portrait of Women in an English Village” became Virago’s first title when it was published in 1975.