Women writers

Top female writers and editors recommend other female authors who have somehow been overlooked or forgotten, either because of their gender, the language in which they wrote, or their books have gone out of print.

She's one of the greatest American writers of all time. Here are some of the most memorable things she's said and written in her legendary career.

Genius, captured on camera.

A list of American punk poet Patti Smith's favorite books, from Ginsberg and Rimbaud to Dante and Bronte.

A small selection of women writers from across the centuries. Features: L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables) Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway) Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility) Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) Murasaki Shikibu (The Tale of Genji) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, Poirot) Sappho (lyric poetry)

As a response to Gay Talese’s failure to name any inspirational female writers, we asked our readers to explain why and how these authors changed their lives

Too readily classified, or dismissed, as a Southern Gothicist, Carson McCullers (1917–1967) is one of the most radical writers of the American

Celebrate these historic change-makers in honor of Women's History Month.

Genius, captured on camera.

In 1977, the National Portrait Gallery staged a landmark exhibition, featuring 90 portraits of eminent British women photographed by Mayotte Magnus. The gallery is now updating the project with Illuminating Women, which runs until 24 March