Women writers will get a little lift in their sails this week from the just-published VIDA Count for 2013. VIDA, a volunteer-run nonprofit that seeks equality in publishing, annually publishes pie charts that compare the rates at which men and women are published. This year’s VIDA Count examined the rates that women were published in second-tier publications (Conjunctions, New American Writing), as well as the top-tier publications (The New Yorker, Boston Review, Tin House) that VIDA usually looks at. As usual, the results are hard-hitting. While women are published with greater parity in second-tier publications, many top-tier publications continue to be a veritable sausage fest.

You can follow up on somewhat-discouraging pies with a few hopeful words from my interview with the VIDA Count Director, Jen Fitzgerald. And if you’re lucky enough to be in Seattle for the AWP Conference, stop by the VIDA booth and say hello to the amazing women who committed hundreds of hours to gathering this research.(News about the PDXX Collective’s reading with Split Infinitive at AWP to follow.)