Tales of feisty Welsh woman who challenged the status quo will be launched by a Newport-based writer this week.

Local historian and author Angela V John will release her latest book Rocking the Boat. Welsh Women who Championed Equality, 1840 -1990, on March 1, to coincide with World Book Day and St Davids Day.

Her collection of essays focuses on seven woman, who, in a range of imaginative ways, challenged expectations of how women’s lives were lived.

Their intelligence, determination and grit is revealed through stirring stories, as the essays critically investigate the challenges, setbacks and hard-won achievements of feisty women who rocked the boat over 150 years.

Pembrokeshire links feature prominently in the book as the book’s jacket depicts a painting by the Fishguard artist Christine Kinsey, and the final essay is about the novelist Menna Gallie who lived in Newport.

Angela said: “From the pioneer doctor and campaigner for progressive causes Frances Hoggan, to the irrepressible 20th century novelist Menna Gallie, these women spoke out for what they believed in, and sometimes they paid the price.

“They became familiar, and often, controversial voices on the page and platform in London, Oxford, Northern Ireland and internationally.

“Lady Rhondda and Edith Picton-Turbervill championed women’s equality at the heart of power in Westminster whilst Myfanwy and Olwen Rhŷs saw education as the key to change.”

She added: “Women’s Suffrage played a prominent part in the lives of these women and was especially important to Margaret Wynne Nevinson.”

The collection, published by Parthian, also explores different approaches to biographical writing and understanding as well as raising issues of gender and nationality.

Official launches will be held in Newport’s East Street Gallery, The Senedd in Cardiff Bay and London.

For more information visit angelavjohn.com.