About a fortnight ago I asked for help. In response to writer Maureen Johnson’s convincing polemic against the way that publishers and critics present female writers I asked, “Can you add to the list of female writers I ought to be reading?”
Johnson listed several that revealed new possibilities:
Edna Ferber, Diana Wynne Jones, Kate Chopin, Patricia Highsmith, Miles Franklin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Shirley Jackson, Lillian Hellman, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Carson McCullers, Flannery O’Connor, Edith Wharton, Eudora Welty, Ursula LeGuin, Octavia Butler, Virginia Woolf, Marianne Robinson, Lorrie Ann Moore, Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, Grace Paley, Barbara Kingsolver, Mary McCarthy, Paula Vogel, Suzan-Lori Parks, Edwidge Danticat.
In the comments to my post, readers made some great suggestions. These are too good to be buried in comments, so I list them below. There’ll be some we know and love, and others that offer an opportunity for discovery.
- Annie Dillard
- Francine Prose
- A. S Byatt
- Zora Neale Hurston
- Nicole Krauss
- Valerie Martin
- Helen Oyeyemi
- Marilynne Robinson
- Zadie Smith
- Eudora Welty
- Clarice Lispector
- Catherine Rey
- Nadine Gordimer
- Simone de Beauvoir
- Aphra Benn
- Phillis Wheatley
- Herta Muller
- Sigrid Undset
- Katherine Anne Porter
- Shirley Jackson
- Shirley Hazzard
- Shirley Ann Grau
- Baroness Blixen (Isak Dinesin)
- Rebecca West
- Beryl Markham
- Elspeth Huxley
- Jennifer Egan
- Elinor Lipman
- Georgette Heyer
- Gail Scott
- Lydia Davis
- Aimee Bender
- Carole Maso
- Ingeborg Bachmann
- Marguerite Duras
- Rosalind Belben
- Amelie Nothomb
- Olive Moore
- Evelyn Scott
- Helen DeWitt
- Joanna Scott
- Alice Munro
- Cynthia Ozick
- A. M. Homes
- Janice Galloway
- June Akers Seese
- Marguerite Young
- Susan Daitch
- Rikki Ducornet
- A.L. Kennedy
Thank you so much for those suggestions: Kevin of Interpolations, wrappedupinbooks, Jen of Being in Lieu, verbivore of Incurable Logophilia, Emily of evening all afternoon, Steven Riddle of A Momentary Taste of Being and jaimie.
Filed under: The Joy of Lists Tagged: Aimee Bender, AL Kennedy, Alice Munro, AM Homes, Amelie Nothomb, Annie Dillard, Aphra Benn, AS Byatt, Barbara Kingsolver, Baroness Blixen (Isak Dinesin), Beryl Markham, Carole Maso, Carson McCullers, Catherine Rey, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Clarice Lispector, Cynthia Ozick, Diana Wynne Jones, Edith Wharton, Edna Ferber, Edwidge Danticat, Elinor Lipman, Elspeth Huxley, Eudora Welty, Evelyn Scott, Flannery O’Connor, Francine Prose, Gail Scott, Georgette Heyer, Grace Paley, Helen DeWitt, Helen Oyeyemi, Herta Müller, Ingeborg Bachmann, Janice Galloway, Jennifer Egan, Joanna Scott, Joyce Carol Oates, June Akers Seese, Kate Chopin, Katherine Anne Porter, Lillian Hellman, Lorrie Ann Moore, Lydia Davis, Margaret Atwood, Marguerite Duras, Marguerite Young, Marianne Robinson, Marilynne Robinson, Mary McCarthy, Miles Franklin, Nadine Gordimer, Nicole Krauss, Octavia Butler, Olive Moore, Patricia Highsmith, Paula Vogel, Phillis Wheatley, Rebecca West, Rikki Ducornet, Rosalind Belben, Shirley Ann Grau, Shirley Hazzard, Shirley Jackson, Sigrid Undset, Simone de Beauvoir, Susan Daitch, Suzan-Lori Parks, Toni Morrison, Ursula LeGuin, Valerie Martin, Virginia Woolf, Zadie Smith, Zora Neale Hurston
