Beyond Palatable: A manifesto for unapologetic women

Join us for the York launch of Sophie Lee's galvanizing new book, "Beyond Palatable": a manifesto for women who are done shrinking.

Hosted by the Centre for Women's Studies (CWS), University of York. Chaired by Dr Boriana Alexandrova, Senior Lecturer at CWS and Department of English & Related Literature.

About the Book

Too loud. Too emotional. Too ambitious. Too… powerful? What happens when you stop dimming your light and dare to shine?

This free event will launch award-winning East Yorkshire journalist and author Sophie Lee's new book, Beyond Palatable, coming out on March 8, 2026 (pre-order your copy here). Described as "a snackable read that gives womxn full permission to exist"--loudly, defiantly, unapologetically--Beyond Palatable is a manifesto for women who are done shrinking. Sophie Lee calls time on bending to societal norms and exposes the lies that keep women small, compliant and exhausted.

Through somatic wisdom (a field that emphasises body awareness and mindful movement for wellbeing), cultural critique and practical tools, she shows readers how to unpick their stories, disrupt the systems that silence them, and remember who the f*ck they are.

Raw, unfiltered and unapologetically honest, Beyond Palatable is both a personal reckoning and a cultural intervention. It’s a book for every woman who has ever asked: Am I too much? Not enough? Too complicated to be loved as I am? For all of the women who have shrunk themselves to fit in. For us, our younger selves and the girls who are growing up in a world of filters, loud expectations and conflicting messages about what it means to be a woman.