That Takes Ovaries! (Random House, 2002) is a collection of 64 true stories penned by girls and women who have taken daring risks, be it demanding to play dodge ball with the boys in gym class or taking a stand against gang rape. The spirit of the book has spawned a grassroots movement of open-mike nights, where women — and men — can come share their own experiences of unabashed female courage and hear selected readings from the book; one is being held October 3 here in Boston. The Phoenix recently spoke with That Takes Ovaries! editor Rivka Solomon.

Q: What’s the inspiration behind the book? And the title?

A: I wanted to do what I could to celebrate gutsy risk-taking women. And I thought it would be fun to be in contact with women writing about doing bold, gutsy, brazen, outrageous, audacious, courageous, and in-your-face things. I get a charge out of seeing any woman taking charge. I think that we all do — we actually gravitate toward these stories and hold onto them and share them with other people. We think, if she can do it, so can I.

Q: What can we expect to see at the reading?

A: There’s going to be lot of diversity at this particular event. Young women of color, Latinas, Vietnamese, Haitian immigrants, great representation from the queer community, social teams, and activists. This will be the most multicultural event we’ve had, and we’ve had about 30 events around the country.

This one is going to be a performance, staged reading, and open mike. The group performing will be Dagger, which is L/B/T guerrilla theater and includes Amatul Hannan. Lori Frankian, an actress who is a wheelchair user, is going to be reading a great story from the book about a wheelchair user who conducted a pee protest to gain the addition of a wheelchair-accessible restroom to her university. " Letting Justice Flow " is the name of the story, and it’s by Alison Kafer. We’re having a local teen read; she’s an aspiring actress, and her name is Rosa Baez.

Q: Will there be an opportunity to make a donation, and what does the money go toward?

A: Yes. This event is being hosted by the Boston Women’s Fund, which is one of the most important women’s organizations in Boston. They give to all the grassroots women’s organizations out there, among them Haitian Women Against Eviction, Immigrant Workers Resource Center, Network LA RED, which is a queer/trans domestic-violence alliance, and HarborCove, an anti-violence group for teens.

Q: Any plans to continue collecting stories for another volume?

A: I’m still in the midst of organizing the open mikes for this one. We have plans for a That Takes Ovaries! play. It’s going to be performed in Washington, DC, this March. We have a number of theaters down there that are interested. And we’re doing these open mikes around the country.

Any woman or girl can lead her own That Takes Ovaries! open mike. They can take the risk of learning how to organize and plan an event and learn from it. In every community we will find women with brazen acts that we can be inspired by. The guidelines for leading open mike are on the Web site (www.thattakesovaries.org). They can be held either for fun or as a fundraiser for local women’s and girls’ groups and groups working to end human-rights abuses against women internationally.

That Takes Ovaries! Open Mike takes place Thursday, October 3, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., at the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center, 85 West Newton Street, South End, Boston. Call (617) 927-1730.