"The difference between then being victimized and changing and being more authentic and having an authentic life is that you have a moment when someone is putting you down and you say, 'I refuse to accept your definition of me.' And [Brenda] did it at eight."
-- Jean Shinoda Bolen on Brenda Knight

Knight continues to create her own definitions in her latest book, Sheroes: Bold, Brash (and Absolutely Unabashed) Superwomen (1998, written under the pseudonym Varla Ventura). Sheroes chronicles women who have blazed trails in the sciences, politics, sports, the arts and more. It talks about what we can learn from the shared characteristics of these sheroes, and what connections all girls and women can make in their own lives to these daring role models. Along with the book, Knight has launched a comprehensive campaign to have the word "sheroes" officially added to the dictionary.

Knight won the American Book Award in 1997 for Women of the Beat Generation. Before Ms. Knight's book, little was known about the role of female writers and artists in the 1950s counter-culture movement. "They were always there," Knight says. "It was like they were sitting in a dark room and needed the light turned on." Knight assembled a unique volume that uncovered a hidden history and revolutionized the way we look at an entire era. The book is a collection of writing, profiles, and photos that brings recognition to such female Beats as Diane Di Prima, Hetti Jones, Mary Norbert Korte, and Jan Kerouac (Jack Kerouac's daughter).

Knight thinks one explanation for the book's continued popularity may be that our current age of hype and commercialism makes people appreciate the raw authenticity of the Beats now more than ever.

For more about Knight's work, go to Conari Press at www.conari.com.