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Virago Timeline – 1990s
Five decades of feminist publishing
Browse our history to learn how Virago started and where we are today.
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1990: The Long Road to Greenham
Jill Liddington’s The Long Road to Greenham wins The Fawcett Society Prize.
1991: You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation is published
Deborah Tannen’s You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation becomes an instant bestseller.
1992: The Haunting of Sylvia Plath
The Haunting of Sylvia Plath by Jacqueline Rose wins the Fawcett Society Prize.
1993: Virago is 20
Virago celebrates its twentieth birthday. The list has grown from eleven books a year to nearly 100, the staff from three to nineteen. Harriet Spicer is MD and Lennie Goodings is Publisher. Company is first in the Old Piano Factory, Camden Town and then moves to rent offices in Random House, Vauxhall Bridge Road.
1993: Daughters of the House wins award
Michèle Roberts wins the prestigious WHSmith Literary Award for Daughters of the House, which was also shortlisted for the 1992 Booker Prize.
1995: Virago is purchased by Little, Brown
Times are tough, downturn in the market results in smaller list and sadly, a smaller team. Independence is harder to maintain. After eight years of going it alone the Virago Board decides to sell the (profitable) company to Philippa Harrison, CEO and Publisher of Little, Brown (then owned by Time Warner). Move into Little Brown…
1996: Life at Little, Brown
From January Virago operates as an imprint of Little, Brown. Photo from 1997 with Little, Brown CEO Philippa Harrison, Lennie Goodings, Publisher and Sally Abbey, Senior Editor.
1997: Tipping the Velvet is published
Sarah Waters writes Tipping the Velvet which is published in the Virago V imprint.
1997: Virago bounces back
The imprint bounces back to achieve its highest trade turnover fuelled in part by the spectacular success of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace.
1997: The Women’s Room becomes a VMC
Marilyn French’s The Women’s Room becomes a Virago Modern Classic.
1999: Virago Modern Classics is 21
Virago Modern Classics celebrate twenty-one years. We have published nearly 600 books, and have a core of 200 titles in print.
1999: Faces of the Century – Virago in the National Gallery
‘The publishing firm of Virago achieved more for women’s literature than any other.’ Anna Ford, for her contribution to the National Portrait Gallery’s Faces of the Century in 1999. Photo (c) Sally Greenhill