7 All-Time Great Female Authors
Some of the most charismatic and influential women in history were authors, writers, and poets. Female writers have proffered us some of the greatest novels, short stories, poems, and essays that were ever written. Women are widely celebrated in the literary world – and have contributed just as much to our literary culture as men. A degree of gender disparity when it comes to recognising the contributions of female authors undoubtedly remains. But trending hashtags such as #readwomen2014, #readwomen2015, #womengaytaleseshouldread just proved that there is immense support for and interest in women in literature.
Here are 7 all-time great female authors who made literary history with their unique style.
1. Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize-winning American novelist widely recognized for her examination of black female experience within the black community. Morrison was born in 1931 in a Midwest American family which she credited for imbibing black culture through storytelling, folklore, and music in her. She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved around the world. Her other works include The Bluest Eyes, Song of Solomon, Remember and opera libretto inspired by Beloved. Her writing style is a more lucid blend of detail, memory, and lyrical commentary which lures the reader.
2. Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf was one of the most distinguished writers, widely known for novels like The Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, A Room of One’s Own, Orlando and many others. Her ability to paint a scene so skillfully, and to inhabit her characters with such purity and depth, takes the reader on an awe-inspiring journey of its own. Her literary style attempts to evoke impressions rather than recreating the reality through words. She was the daughter of a famous scholar and philosopher, Sir Leslie Stephen, who encouraged and nurtured the budding writer in her.
3. Harper Lee
Author of internationally acclaimed and Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Harper Lee was an American writer. Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Driven by her passion for writing, Lee contributed to her school newspaper and the Rammer Jammer (a humor magazine), and consequently became the editor of that publication. To Kill a Mockingbird is a class of American literature and has been translated into more than 40 languages, having sold more than a million copies. She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to social justice and peace through her work.
4. Jane Austen
Jane Austen, born in 1775, is popularly known for her social commentary in romantic fiction novels namely, Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility. Fascinated by the world of stories, Jane began to write in notebooks in her early childhood, and was encouraged by her father. Austen helped shape English literature with her use of literary realism, social commentary and techniques to tell the compelling stories of the 18th century and 19th-century women.
5. Maya Angelou
She is an American Poet, author, essayist, actress, and a civil rights activist, best known for her acclaimed memoir ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, as well as numerous poetry and essay collections. She had a difficult childhood and experienced racial prejudice and discrimination owing to her African American heritage. Angelou wrote six autobiographical volumes in a non-conventional structure that completely challenged the genre. Her candid and straightforward style of writing enticed the reader and pushed the boundaries of writing autobiographies for all female writers.
6. J. K. Rowling
Everyone knows J.K Rowling, a British writer who has changed the way the world views children’s novels. She is the widely-known author of the Harry Potter series. She is one of the greatest living writers and her personal life story of rags to riches has inspired countless readers all across the globe to never give up on their dreams. Her books have gained immense popularity, won multiple awards and sold more than 400 million copies worldwide.
7. Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie, born in 1890, was one of the world’s best-selling mystery novelists. With her works like ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and ‘Death on the Nile’, she made a huge impact on the literary world. She was homeschooled by her mother, who encouraged her to write. Starting from early childhood, Christie wrote over 70 detective novels as well as numerous short stories. Being the best-selling author in the history, she rightly earned the nicknames “Queen of Crime” and the “Queen of Mystery” in the literary circuit, and inspired female authors of all genres to follow their passion for writing.
