Eight Influential Women Writers Throughout History

Often minimized, occasionally outright censored, women writers have nonetheless made major contributions to the history of literature. These eight women writers are just a small sample of the many who have written valuable, engaging, and entertaining poetry and prose over the centuries.

Sappho

Born in the 7^th century BC, Sappho was one of the most admired poets of the ancient world. Ancient Greek scholars counted her romantic lyrical poems, which were often dedicated to other women, among the greatest works ever produced. Though a great deal of her poetry has been lost, her immense reputation endures even today.

Murasaki Shikibu

Lady Murasaki is credited by many scholars with single-handedly inventing the novel as we know it today. A lady in waiting in the Japanese court, Murasaki wrote around the 10^th century AD. Her sprawling epic The Tale of Genji spans 1200 pages and took more than a decade to complete. Along with other Japanese women writers, she was instrumental in helping to create a written language out of spoken Japanese.

Christine de Pizan

De Pizan was a French author of poetry, prose, and nonfiction who wrote between 1390-1430. After the death of her husband in an epidemic, de Pizan, who was only about 25 at the time, completely supported herself and her three children on her income as a writer. Her best known work is The Book of the City of Ladies, a celebration of the contributions made by women throughout history.

Aphra Behn

The mysterious Aphra Behn was a contemporary of Shakespeare and also wrote several well-received novels and plays. All this was accomplished while working as a spy for the British Royal Court. Her short novel Oroonoko, about an enslaved African man, was inspired by time she spent in Suriname.

Jane Austen

Since the publication of her first work, Sense and Sensibility, in 1811, Austen has become one of the most widely read writers in the English language. She is the author of six books, all of which are undisputed classics. Unafraid to experiment with different styles and forms, her work was incredibly influential on future generations of writers.

Mary Shelley

Daughter of the pioneering feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and wife of poet Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley had quite the family name to live up to. She accomplished this in a single stroke in 1818 when she published the novel Frankenstein. The book was a pioneering work in the science fiction and horror genres, as well as a thoughtful exploration of some of the social issues of the day.

Virginia Woolf

The brilliant Woolf was one of the foremost writers and scholars of the Modernist movement. Her most famous novels include the fantasy story Orlando (1928) and the more realistic character study Mrs. Dalloway (1925). Among her many works of nonfiction and criticism is A Room of One’s Own (1929), a book-length analysis of women writers.

Toni Morrison

Winner of the Nobel Prize in 1993, the American writer Toni Morrison is one of a kind in her ability to give voice to marginalized groups of people. Her novels focus on the struggles of poor rural African-Americans, telling their stories in a fresh and lyrical way. She is the author of ten popular books, published between 1978 and 2012.

This list only scratches the surface of women writers throughout history. Since the earliest eras of the written word, women as well as men have been leaving their literary mark. Check out the graphic below for more iconic female authors:


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