Before I go on, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who popped in for yesterday’s Not the TV Book Group discussion on Vanessa and Virginia by Susan Sellers. I never fail to be delighted by how many threads and conversations come out of the NTTVBG meetings. Thanks to my fellow NTTVBG-ers, dovegrey reader, kimbofo, and Simon, and we’ll hopefully see you all in two weeks at Reading Matters to discuss The Illusionist by Jennifer Johnston.

It’s fitting, though, that we should have spent all of yesterday talking about two such iconic women as Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell when today is International Women’s Day. Unlike many ‘days’, though, this is a truly global affair, with events happening all over the globe. You can see a full list on the IWD website.

Oxford is, as it does every year, celebrating International Women’s Day. The theme this year is ‘Grassroots and Glass Ceilings’, with events including an art exhibition running at The Jam Factory until Sunday 14 March, and another art show, ‘A Celebration of the Female Form: 100 Portraits of Women’ at the North Wall Art Centre until Saturday 13 March.

Today’s major event is one I wish I was able to go to: ‘Aung San Suu Kyi: Breaking the Glass Ceiling in Burma’ at Oxford Town Hall. It starts at 6.30pm with a sale of Burmese cuisine, with the main event following at 7.30pm:

A celebration in recognition and support of Aung San Suu Kyi: iconic first lady of Burma , described as  “a stunning beacon of non-violent struggles for democracy and human rights.”

Aung San Suu Kyi, a graduate of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, 1969, was elected as the Leader of the National League for Democracy in her home country Burma in 1988, and has since 1989 spent fourteen years under house arrest. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her non-violent struggle.

The evening combines Burmese culture with politics; providing an insight into the forces that have inspired AungSan Suu Kyi’s passionate commitment to the peaceful pathway to freedom and democracy in her country.

Treat yourself to an early supper: A flavour of delicious authentic Burmese cuisine on sale from 6.30-7.30pm. Meet the people of Burma, learn about their traditions, beliefs, customs and politics through: speakers, film, costume, traditional dance and presentations: 7.30–9.30pm

Proceeds from the sale of tickets will be shared between the Oxford Burmese Benefit Fund and the Oxford International Women’s Festival. Collection during the interval for the Oxford Burmese Benefit Fund; proceeds will go directly to support relief projects in Burma.

Over the coming days there is also an event celebrating Dorothy Hodgkin, a crystallographer, ‘Creative Women, Creative Children’, and open afternoon with Redbridge Traveller’s Women’s Group, an evening of Latin American music and dance, Women Reaching Women Water Day, a joint feminist/Trade Union event about the fashion industry, and a Women in Business seminar. Phew! Something for everyone and no mistake.

Happy International Women’s Day from Other Stories, to you, wherever you are. Me, before I go out today, I’m going to get back to reading Letters from a Fainthearted Feminist by the late feminist writer Jill Tweedie.