By Karen Espig
Throughout history, the list of women writers has been long, yet many do not get the recognition they deserve. The dilemma, though, is how we find them. I drew up a list of too-good-to-be-forgotten female writers, and I hope you will discover a new favourite in the list.
I sourced three of my picks by referring to the inspirations of current well-known ones; after all, who better to identify a fabulous writer than a fabulous writer? I found the remaining two by scouring the lists of influential writers in history and selecting these interesting pen-wielding femmes.
Zora Neale Hurston
From the bookshelves of Alice Walker, we find Zora Neale Hurston. Zora was an early contributor and leader in the Harlem Resistance, a vibrant collective of writers, artists, musicians, and intellectuals who fled the oppressive South of the USA to find hope and freedom of expression in Harlem, New York City.
Her most well-known work, Their Eyes Were Watching God, explores themes of female liberation from gender roles and domestic violence as well as sexual expression. The story follows Janie Crawford, who struggles to assert her independence in 1930s America.
The beautifully written anthology, Mules and Men, shares African-American culture through the stories, sermons, folktales, and songs of Zora’s childhood, collected from her community in 1930s Florida.
Margaret Laurence
Margaret Atwood is a force in Canadian literature, and one of her favourites is fellow Canadian Margaret Laurence. Laurence began writing as a young girl, and her first published works were translations of Somali folk tales and poems.
Much of her early work, including The Prophet’s Camel Bell, was inspired by her life as an African expatriate. Her second novel, The Stone Angel, follows the journey of 90-year-old Hagar Shipley, who has a chance encounter as she wanders in the woods alone. It is a story about coming to the truth about one’s life and losses. It is rightly considered a landmark work of Canadian literature.
Renata Adler
Joan Didion is an American journalist and writer who wrote extensively about the culture and chaos of the 60s and 70s. From her inspired reading list, we discover Renata Adler, who was born in Milan, Italy, but emigrated to the United States with her parents as they fled Nazi Germany.
Her novel Speedboat follows the evolution of a young female reporter in New York City. It is considered an experimental novel and was first published in 1976.
A later novel, Pitch Dark, also follows a female journalist, Kate Ennis, who finds herself on the verge of a breakdown and ending an affair with a married man. The novel is written in first-person narrative in a somewhat fragmented style that blurs the lines between author and protagonist. It is a story of love, paranoia, and self-reflection.
Both her nonfiction and fiction works explore the nature and values of contemporary life.
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke
The Baroness employed several pen names, including Isak Dinensen, and wrote the novels Out of Africa and Babette’s Feast–both made into successful films. Her collection of stories in Seven Gothic Tales takes place in a romanticised 19th-century Europe, following a group of rebellious youth.
The author uses a similar style of fairy tale and myth in the volume of short stories, Winter’s Tales. Two of the fables in the collection, The Young Man with the Carnation and A Consolatory Tale, relay the story of Charlie Despard, a writer who is unable to experience the world but can interpret it for his audience, creating an awkward dependency. The cautionary tale, Sorrow Acre, is derived from a Danish folktale.
Dinensen’s creative works often include themes of the supernatural world, of eros, and of dreams.
Magda Szabó
Magda Szabó is a well-known Hungarian author, but she is less well-known among English-speaking readers. She was not allowed to publish during the Stalinist years in Hungary (1949-1956), so her first novel, Freskó (not translated into English), was released in 1958.
In her later book, The Door, we meet the characters Magda (a writer) and Emerence, her elusive and illiterate housekeeper. The book follows the complex relationship that develops as Emerence takes control of Magda’s household and becomes invaluable to her. There is an underlying tension in Emerence’s manner and the fact that no one is permitted in her home. In 2012, The Door was turned into a film starring the incomparable Helen Mirren in case you need further incentive to check out this author’s work.
Szabó’s novel, Abigail, is an enjoyable coming-of-age story of Gina, a headstrong teenager who finds herself sent off to boarding school in WWII Hungary.
This is but the tip of the iceberg, and if you would like to dig a little deeper into forgotten or underrated women of influence, Zing Tsjeng has written a series of books entitled Forgotten Women, with volumes dedicated to leaders, artists, scientists, and writers. Do yourself a favour and dive into some great women’s literature this year.