Below you”ll find our danh sách — compiled following lively debate by Powell”s staff — of 25 women you absolutely must read in your lifetime. In one sense, singling out a small group of female writers as eminently worthy of attention feels lượt thích an injustice lớn a gender who has published an immeasurable amount of profound, enduring literature. At the same time, recognizing great female authors is an exercise we here at Powell”s are dedicated khổng lồ undertaking again & again — emphatically, enthusiastically, unapologetically. And so we present to lớn you 25 female writers we admire for their vision, their fearlessness, their originality, & their impact on the literary world và beyond. To get you started, we”ve included a book recommendation for each author.
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Adrienne Rich
How often, aý muốn literature lovers, are poems from Adrienne Rich”s The Dream of a Common Language quoted? (“I choose not to lớn suffer uselessly // …I choose to lớn love this time for once / with all my intelligence,” from “Splittings.”) This collection, especially the middle sequence, “Twenty-One Love sầu Poems,” contains some of the most beautiful và arresting love poetry written this century. Adrienne Rich is a feminist giant, và these poems, written in 1974, map & delineate the territory of women”s love for women (sexual và otherwise) and the struggle of selfhood, consciousness, history, and art with strength, creativity, và fierce empathy. Even if you think you”re not a bạn of poetry, Rich”s work — her “comtháng language” — will move you. – Jill O.
Alison Bechdel
Bechdel first became well-known as a cartoonist for her long-running series Dykes to Watch Out For (1983-2008). When Fun trang chủ was published in 2006, it was clear her work had taken a much different direction. She says that Fun Home is about how she learned to be an artist from her father. “Fun Home” was what she & her brothers called the funeral home that her father ran part-time. Bechdel narrates her childhood through diary entries that catapult the reader baông chồng in time, clever juxtapositions of literary classics, and artwork with a slightly gothic feel. The subtitle is “A Family Tragicomic,” & Fun Home is exactly that, but so much more: the story of Bechdel”s coming out, her relationship with her father, her father”s death, and his own sexuality. – Mary Jo
Amy Hempel
Hempel used khổng lồ be in that category known as a “writer”s writer” — critically praised, loved devotedly by fellow authors, & often taught (particularly her near-perfect story, “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried”) but not widely read. In fact, several of her early collections of stories were out of print & difficult khổng lồ find. But with the publication of her Collected Stories a few years ago, there”s now no excuse for not reading her. Hempel is one of the best story writers in America today, hands-down — her incredible, sharp-edged prose, her precise minimadanh mục style, her devastating & often absurd humor and poignancy have sầu made her a touchstone và influence for other contemporary writers. Hempel”s Collected Stories is an abundance that will reward readers again và again. – Jill O.
Chimamandomain authority Ngozi Adichie
Adichie”s ability to write with compassionate, brilliant prose about topics such as civil war, political strife, immigration issues, race, cultural differences, and love has earned her well-deserved critical acclayên & many awards, including a MacArthur “Genius Grant” in 2008. Adichie”s most recent novel, Americanah, parallels some of her own experience as a Nigerian coming to lớn America for the first time to attend college. Alternating between the present and past, Ifemelu tries to adjust lớn her new temporary home page, learning what it really means khổng lồ be blachồng in America. Although now “settled” and with a successful career, Ifemelu longs khổng lồ return lớn Nigeria và leave everything behind, including shutting down a popular blog about her notable American observations. A poignant, funny, sometimes scathing look at the reality of being a new immigrant in the United States — especially from an African perspective sầu — Americanah is an unforgettable work of literature not khổng lồ be missed. – Jen C.
Clarice Lispector
Lispector, a Jewish, Ukraine-born Brazilian author and journacác mục, is much-beloved throughout the world, but is sadly under-read in the United States. Her last (and most popular) work, The Hour of the Star, was originally published mere months before her death in 1977. Lispector”s novel offers the story of Macabéa, a poor, unattractive, và malnourished — yet curious (if not a little naïve) — Rio-based typist, as well as that of the book”s narrator, Rodrigo S.M., and his mounting hardships in conveying the tale of young Macabéa. Exquisite và singular, the often-woeful novel is magnificent as much for its story as for the uncomtháng approach by which it”s told. Lispector”s gifted prose frequently shimmers with an innocent beauty, và so many of her passages nearly radiate from the page. Lispector may well be one of the most brilliant writers you haven”t yet had the honor of reading. – Jeremy G.
Donna Tartt
There”s no living writer lượt thích Donmãng cầu Tartt. Not since reading the Greek và Russian greats in college have I encountered a writer so gifted in weaving the melodramatic, even the supernatural, into the everyday; nor have I read prose so finely calibrated và opulent that the story”s atmosphere quickly supplants my own. All of Tartt”s novels — each a decade in the making — involve eccentric characters who find themselves in increasingly outlandish, dangerous situations. Her excellent debut novel, the literary thriller The Secret History, follows a cult-like group of classics students at a prestigious college who begin committing murders, possibly under the direction of Dionysus, Greek god of ritual madness. A spellbinding và darkly humorous drama of privilege and desire, The Secret History is the type of book you read through the night & think about long after you”ve finished. – Rhianmãng cầu W.
Edwidge Danticat
Haitian-born Edwidge Danticat”s themes of mother-daughter relationships have exotic rhythms that feel as magical as they vì chưng earthy. There is honesty in her storytelling of the Haitian diaspora, of divided families; revealing love sầu, loss, & longing. Her novels & short stories are of bittersweet memories & quichồng, violent societal injustices. Danticat”s award-winning writing (National Book Critics Circle, American Book Award, etc.) embodies the spice of the cooking pot, the vibrant colors of Haiti, & a sisterhood of women. In Breath, Eyes, Memory, a Haitian daughter is removed from the world she knows & understands lớn be sent lớn New York for a reunion with a mother she doesn”t reCall. They vị their best to lớn accommodate each other”s love, but adherence khổng lồ generational tradition endangers their delicate trust. Danticat”s writing is alluring, almost tribal. Simple & complex, crushing and beautiful, Breathe, Eyes, Memory will linger long in your own memory. – Tracey T.
Elizabeth Kolbert
In her Pulitzer Prize–winning book, The Sixth Extinction, New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert confronts what may well be the most compelling, portentous, & defining characteristic of our modernity: the nearly inconceivable và irretrievable loss of earth”s biodiversity at the hands of our own species. Although earth has endured five sầu mass extinctions over the last half-billion years — during which “the planet has undergone change so wrenching that the diversity of life has plummeted” — we now have the distinct và dubious honor of not only “witnessing one of the rarest events in life”s history, also causing it.” Incisive, imperative sầu, và full of shrewd reporting, Kolbert”s The Sixth Extinction is a most significant và substantial work — one that foresees the calamity of our future và aims lớn forestall the most ignominious bequest imaginable. – Jeremy G.
George Eliot
Eliot is an author most people know from school or because they see her books on lists of “important literature.” But reading Middlemarch, her extraordinary monument lớn early-19th-century provincial Engl&, is far from a stodgy, academic experience. With a touch of satire & an incredible grasp on the intricacies of human nature, Eliot illustrates the patterns — và peculiarities — of the people inhabiting her fictional town of Middlemarch. Flawed and conflicted, her characters stumble along as we all vày, navigating mistakes và misfortunes with varying levels of success. This is not a book of classic character arcs or happy endings, but it is a true masterpiece, something khổng lồ be enjoyed for its intrigue, savored for its razor-sharp prose, & admired for its timelessness. – Renee Phường.
Isabel Wilkerson
From 1915 khổng lồ 1970, almost six million African Americans left the South in tìm kiếm of better economic opportunities và a higher chất lượng of life. It was one of the largest internal migrations in history và had a profound effect on the culture và politics of this country. To better underst& this monumental yet underdocumented event, Pulitzer Prize–winning journadanh sách Isabel Wilkerson spent 15 years và interviewed more than 1,000 people researching & writing The Warmth of Other Suns. In this masterpiece of narrative sầu nonfiction, Wilkerson gives the epic scale of the Great Migration a human angle by focusing on three individuals lớn represent each of the three main migratory routes. The Warmth of Other Suns is an illuminating & riveting tài khoản, filled with stories that are finely crafted, meticulously researched, and immensely readable. – Shawn D.
Jane Jacobs
Jacobs was a writer, activist, and visionary whose work had a profound effect on the way we look at the urban areas around us. She was considered an outcast in the male-dominated world of urban planning, yet her book, The Death và Life of Great American Cities, remains a seminal text in this field. One of the great joys of this book is that Jacobs is not an academic, but rather a committed city dweller who obliviously derives much pleasure from living in an urban landscape. Her writing is insightful, honest, unpretentious, và eye-opening. The enthusiasm Jacobs feels for our cities is contagious and shines through on every page of this classic. – Shawn D.
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Joan Didion
Didion is a true original. Her spare, no-nonsense style and acute observational skills completely changed the way we view literary nonfiction, và the influence she”s had on generations of authors is immeasurable. Though often grouped together with Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, và others in the New Journalism movement, her work has endured in ways theirs has not. It”s been nearly 50 years since the first essays in Slouching towards Bethlehem were written, yet her unblinking portrait of America in general and California in particular remains as vibrant and relevant as ever. – Shawn D.
Karen Armstrong
Armstrong”s career began when she wrote & presented a documentary on the life of St. Paul, which aired on BBC”s Channel Four. A former nun và one of the foremost authors writing on comparative sầu religion, Armstrong has published over đôi mươi titles. A History of God discusses the origins of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and explains how our concept of God has changed throughout the course of history. It is fascinating to lớn learn how politics, philosophy, & various schools of thought have changed the way we think about monotheism. Most of us don”t spover much time considering where our ideas about God came from. In A History of God, Armsvào gives the reader a wealth of information in order to lớn better underst& the big picture. It”s a meaty book, full of big ideas and well worth the read. – Mary Jo
Lionel Shriver
Shriver sent the manuscript of We Need to Talk about Kevin to lớn her agent just after 9/11. Her agent found the book thoroughly distasteful and suggested an extensive sầu rewrite. Shriver eventually found a new agent và published the book to great success. Twelve years later, We Need to lớn Talk about Kevin continues khổng lồ be a timely & necessary examination of evil in our society và what happens when that evil is under your own roof. It”s a compelling & grlặng read that has a train-wrechồng chất lượng to it; you can”t seem lớn look away from the characters. Are they despicable, or well-meaning people floundering in a situation beyond their control? – Mary Jo
Louise Erdrich
Erdrich”s writing runs deep with 14 acclaimed novels, including The Round House (winner of the National Book Award) và The Plague of Doves (a Pulitzer finalist). While it”s likely you”ve read her more recent titles, to lớn get the keenest sense of Erdrich and her heritage, it”s well worth it lớn return to the first novel of her Native sầu American series, Love sầu Medicine. Winner of the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award, Love sầu Medicine is heartbreaking, raw, & mesmerizing. The story exposes the heart & soul of the Kashpaw và Lamartine families living on a North Dakota reservation, across generations. Erdrich”s writing is colorful và melodic throughout, with breathtaking passages lượt thích her depiction of Grandpage authority Kashpaw: “Elusive, pregnant with history, his thoughts finned off và vanished. The same color as water.” Fans and readers new to Erdrich alượt thích should not miss this classic. – Kim S.
Lydia Davis
It can be hard to lớn pinpoint what makes Lydia Davis”s writing so magnetic. Her precise, no-nonsense language combined with her liberal definition of the short story? Her attention lớn the overlooked, the mundane, the clutter in our lives that holds so much meaning? Her understated sense of humor, so deeply ingrained in her observations about the absurdities of life? Whatever it is, you”ll find it in spades in her Collected Stories, which compiles all of Davis”s short fiction from her seminal Break It Down (1986) through Varieties of Disturbance (2007). Few writers” work lends itself so well to a compilation. Whether you piông chồng stories at random or start at the beginning & work your way through the collection (highly recommended), this is a book that feels lượt thích the best gift: fun, poignant, and endlessly rewarding. – Renee P.
Margaret Atwood
Atwood is a master at conveying the inner landscape of her characters, and her novels are frequently peppered with sharp và incisive social commentary. Adored by both readers và critics, she has published over 40 works, including many books of poetry, và has won countless accolades, including the Booker Prize & the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Cat”s Eye, written in 1988, is the story of Elaine, a famous painter who returns khổng lồ the đô thị where she grew up for a retrospective exhibit of her work. Long flashbacks take the reader baông chồng lớn Elaine”s childhood where she endured much emotional torment from her group of friends. Cat”s Eye is an uncanny portrayal of how cruel children can be khổng lồ their peers, the toll it can take on the victims, & how that cruelty echoes on in the mind for years. Atwood brings Elaine”s world alive for the reader in vivid và incandescent detail. – Mary Jo
Mary Shelley
In her short 53 years, Mary Shelley wrote novels, plays, short stories, essays, biographies, and travel books, but it”s not surprising that she is best known for her novel Frankenstein. It”s hard to separate the idea of Frankenstein”s boss khủng from the popular inhỏ he”s become, but everyone should read the original novel. Shelley”s gothic masterpiece, first published when she was only 20 years old, is far richer than the legacy it brought to lớn life, a work of elegance và depth, more tragedy than boss khủng story, exploring the dangers of hubris, the nature of so-called evil, the sorrows that lead us to our crimes, and the possibility that rejection & remorse are far greater horrors than any quái nhân. – Gigi L.
Patricia Highsmith
Highsmith is a master of stark, poetic prose, acclaimed for her relentless themes of murder and psychological torment. She is best known for her series of five sầu Tom Ripley novels, popularly referred khổng lồ as the Ripliad. Like the Ripley stories, Highsmith”s debut book, Strangers on a Train, is most remembered for its adaptation lớn the screen. Its hypnotic plot revolves around a moment between two strangers & one very out-of-the-ordinary proposition: “…what an idea! We murder for each other, see? I kill your wife & you kill my father!” Yes, Hitchcoông chồng made that famous movie, but Highsmith”s original novel is more complex và far darker. More than just a gripping thriller, this fascinating character study asks the question: What is the dividing line between sanity và madness, between the hunted and the hunter? – Gigi L.
Rebecca Solnit
Solnit is one of the most eloquent, urgent, and intelligent voices writing nonfiction today; from Men Explain Things khổng lồ Me to lớn Storming the Gates of Paradise, anything she”s written is well worth reading. But her marvelous book of essays A Field Guide to lớn Getting Lost might be her most poetic, ecstatic work. Field Guide is about the spaces between stability và risk, solitude, và the occasional claustrophobia of ordinary life. With dreamlike transitions, Solnit considers a variety of examples which contrast created wildness with natural wilderness, including Passover, punk music, and suburban youth, the early death of a frikết thúc from an overdose, movie-making in the ruins of a mental hospital, & her affair with a hermit in the Southwestern desert. She explores the mysterious without puncturing the mystery, and that is a remarkable achievement indeed. – Jill O.
Susan Sontag
Sontag was good at pretty much everything related to lớn language — she wrote novels, stories, plays, và memoirs. But the best of her efforts were her essays & critical writings. It”s difficult to lớn narrow down a single collection khổng lồ represent her nonfiction work, which ranged from horror movies khổng lồ encapsulating “camp” to lớn exploring illness as metaphor. On Photography is one of her seminal works, wherein she redefines và examines ways of seeing, representation, and reality. As Sontag writes in the first essay, “In Plato”s Cave sầu,” “To collect photographs is lớn collect the world,” & On Photography radically expands our consciousness of what it is khổng lồ live in such a place. – Jill O.
Toni Morrison
If the only book you”ve sầu read by Toni Morrison is her Pulitzer Prize–winning novel Beloved, you”re missing out. Known for her powerfully evocative sầu prose, her grvà mystical tales steeped in blaông chồng history, her haunting (và haunted) characters, Morrison is an author whose body of work demands attention. Her third novel, Song of Solomon — Barachồng Obama”s self-proclaimed favorite book — is a magnificent, epic story following Mabé “Milkman” Dead, along with an assortment of characters whose lives touch, và at times endanger, his own. Violence & a palpable fear of injustice pervades the people of this book, mix in Michigan in the “30s through the “60s. But moreover, as the many characters emerge in full color for both Milkman & the reader, Song of Solomon is a book of awakenings, & a tale of one man”s journey from defiance lớn action. – Renee P..
Valeria Luiselli
As sinuous a novel as Valeria Luiselli”s Faces in the Crowd is, it is all the more remarkable on account of it being a debut — and a most assured one at that. The Mexican novemenu & essayist”s first fiction entwines multiple narratives và perspectives, shifting between them with the ease & gracefulness of a writer far beyond her years (Faces in the Crowd was published when Luiselli was 28). The metafictional scaffolding of Luiselli”s novel is seamlessly constructed, & its bibliocentric façade entrenches it within a rich tradition of referential Latin American literature. Faces in the Crowd, beyond its gorgeous writing & superb composition, is modest yet striking, measured yet salient. Last fall, the National Book Foundation named Luiselli one of 2014″s “5 under 35,” và given the evident range of her myriad literary talents, it”s no great wonder why. – Jeremy G.
Virginia Woolf
Reading Virginia Woolf is like stepping out onto lớn a veranda, where the entire world unfurls before you in dazzling detail. Her unparalleled ability to lớn paint a scene so exquisitely, & lớn inhabit her characters with such clarity và intensity, makes for an experience that is both awe-inspiring and deeply moving. To the Lighthouse, mix in a weathered vacation trang chính on the edge of a Scottish isle, depicts lives shaped by the temperament of the environment & the ancient myths of the sea. People”s moods change at whyên ổn, perspective passes fluidly from body to body, & the grandeur of the landscape beckons the characters khổng lồ embark on a journey that proves epic voyages don”t always involve sầu great distances. It doesn”t get more beautiful than this. – Renee P.
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Wisława Szymborska
One of only 13 women lớn receive the Nobel Prize in Literature (out of 111 total laureates), Polish poet Wisława Szymborska (pronounced vees-WAH-vah shim-BOR-ska) was awarded the world”s highest literary honor in 1996. A career-spanning work that features poems from eight separate collections, Poems New và Collected offers some four decades of the poet”s finest verse. Despite having published only a few hundred poems during her lifetime, Szymborska was regarded as one of the century”s finest European Poets. Described as the “Mozart of Poetry,” Szymborska was recognized by the Nobel committee “for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical & biological context to lớn come khổng lồ light in fragments of human reality.” With rich imagery and a wide stylistic range, the profundity of Szymborska”s poetry makes it personal, timeless, & universally relevant. – Jeremy G.
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