IF you think you know what a ‘Feminartsy’ is, look at the spelling carefully.

Local writer and arts advocate Zoya Patel is a proud feminartsy and is busy asking some big questions: Have all great writers throughout history been men? Are women writers too preoccupied with frivolous topics? Can women write convincing male voices?

As she’s saying, being a writer is hard enough, but being a woman writer is even harder. According to the ‘Stella Count’ (annual statistics collected by The Stella Prize) in 2014, 77 per cent of books reviewed by the Australian Financial Review were written by men, and only 23 per cent were by women. Good grief.

Worse, The Stella Count also indicates that women authors get smaller reviews and poorer placement than reviews and feature articles than their male counterparts, probably telling us a lot about the journalism industry. And there’s the vexed question of their representation in literary awards.

Patel, feminartsy.com editor and founder, says “Feminartsy” was created to provide a space where both women and men can explore how gender impacts on gender inequality.

In a night of “laughs, learning and serious myth-busting,” Rosanna Stevens, Julieanne Lamond and Lucy Neave will challenge myths about women in literature, followed by a short Q&A. Some of the myths they explore are that women can only write about women, that all great writers throughout history have been men and that women writers are too preoccupied with frivolous topics, hence chick lit.

“Busting myths about women and literature,” Gorman Arts Centre, Main Hall (former Bogong Theatre) Wednesday, August 26, at 7pm $10. Tickets at the door.