It being International Women’s Day, I took some time to set down the names of women I love and honour, beginning with my mothers (mother and mother-in-law, actually, but I’m not going to get technical about that here, or in the rest of this either), my daughters, my grandmothers, my sisters, my aunts. The list could go on and on, to include nieces and friends and colleagues and women I admire from afar, whether by acquaintance or through their books or history… But today I’m thinking of these first circles in particular, and I name them below, with gratitude. (Daughters and mothers, being the closest circle, are the largest names.) Each one represents a relationship, a unique story, qualities I admire, challenges I’ve seen faced in strong and various ways, and wonderful gifts given to me and our family and the wider world.

Arrangement created at Wordle.