In this special issue on the academy, gender and writings the following articles: 'Feminine Writing as an Alternative to the Patriarchal Language' by Seda Peksen: 'Encountering Identity: Affect, Writing and the Feminist Scholar' by Cristyn Davies: 'The Underbelly of the Essay' by Sosha Stuckey: 'Commentary: women + science Ph.D.s = disappearing act?' by Jessica Belser: 'Woman, Womyn, Wom: A Word of One's Own' by Deborah Hauser: 'The Blind Spots in the Feminist Classroom: A Hong Kong Example' by Amy Lee: 'A Thousand Words: Messages in the Illustrations of Turn-of-the-Century Periodicals' by Sonja Lynch: and 'From Pauline and Juliet to Today: Differences in Schools and the Quest for Inclusion' by Alison Edwards.