This volume brings together scholars, students and writers as well as artists from around the world. By choosing a thematic focus on "transition" in women’s lives, we present research on women who have crossed biological, geopolitical and political borders as well as emotional, sexual, cultural and linguistic boundaries. The international approach brings together different cultures and genres in order to emphasize the links and connections that bind women together, rather than those which separate them. The chapters consider the ways in which the changes and transitions women undergo influence the world we live in. We are particularly interested in the idea of crossing borders and how this influences identity and belonging, and the theme of crossing boundaries in the context of motherhood as well as sexual orientation. The topic is timely given the waves of migration all around the world in recent times. The contributors deal with issues central to contemporary life, such as gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as understanding women’s identities and being sensitive to fluid concepts of gender and sexuality.

Maria-José Blanco is a Group -Analyst (IGA, London). She has an academic background in Spanish literature and language. Since 2008 she has taught at the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin-American Department at King’s College London.

Claire Williams is Associate Professor of Brazilian Literature and Culture at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Peter’s, College. Her research focuses on women's writing, minority writing and life-writing from the Lusophone world.

CONTRIBUTORS Mònica Rovira (Filmmaker, Barcelona, Spain), Diana Aramburu (University of California, Davis, USA), Maria-José Blanco (King's College London, UK), Edward Scrivens (University of Oxford), Anna Johnson (writer, UK), Feifei Zhan (SOAS, UK), Marcia Thompson (artist, UK), Tuna Erdem and Seda Ergul, Istanbul Queer Art Collective (London, UK), Indrani Karmakar (Rhodes University, South Africa), Marta Arnaldi (University of Oxford), Sandra Daroczi (University of Bath, UK), Claire Williams (University of Oxford, UK), Adalgisa Giorgio (University of Bath, UK), Susan Bozkurt (Independent Scholar, UK).