The United States does not place as high a value on creative writing as other countries, there aren’t many statues in honor of short story writers or days celebrating the work of a poet but I think that literary achievements deserve to be noted and honored which is why I decided to type this post.
Honestly, I meant to post this yesterday but I was too busy being awesome. There are a ton of phenomenal poets, playwrights, novelists and spoken word artists out there in the world, and a fair number of them are women so I decided to share some of them with you. This is not a biography, I just want you to know that when it comes to crafting words, women do it better. Among this list are award winning and critically-acclaimed writers who many have never heard of. Additionally, all of these women deal with intersectionality in their work and in their lives. Reaching into every genre and breaking down barriers I wanted a list of women that would intrigue just one person. If one person searched out a book by one of the following women, I would consider this post a success. For brevity, I am including short story writers in the novelist section.
Take a gander at this list of amazing literary women and one of their most popular works.
Poets
Erica Dawson (The Small Blades Hurt)
Tracy K. Smith (Life on Mars)
Lucie Brock-Broido (Stay, Illusion)
Spoken Word Artists
Janette Ikz (“I Will Wait for You”)
Staceyann Chin (“If Only Out of Vanity”)
Rupi Kaur (“Guess How Much I Love You”)
Novelists/ Short Story Writers
Jasmin Darznik (Song of a Captive Bird: A Novel)
Jamaica Kincaid (At the Bottom of the River)
Marie Lu (Legend)
Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad)
Playwrights/ Screenwriters
Katori Hall (Hurt Village)
Suzan-Lori Parks (The America Play)
Lynn Nottage (Ruined)
Sofia Coppola (The Beguiled)
Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball)
Philippa Boyens (The Hobbit)
And for your viewing pleasure, a few pictures of these outstanding women.
Janette Ikz
Marie Lu
Philippa Boyens
Tracey K. Smith
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