The writer Richard Bausch was mystified upon encountering recently the ridiculous — but somehow pervasive — notion that great women writers are few. On Facebook he volunteered some names as an antidote to this sexist poison. People built on those names in response. Here are some — though hardly all — of those names. Women writers — exceptional, original creative artists all. Let’s name some women writers. Let’s name some names.
Katherine Ann Porter, Sarah Hall, Ellen Douglas, Eudora Welty, Mary Lee Settle, Ellen Bowen, Eleanor Tayler, Kate Chopin, Willa Cather, Andrea Barrett, Lee Smith, Zoe Wicomb, Jill McCorkle, Edna O’Brien, Jayne Anne Phillips, Joyce Carol Oates, Gloria Naylor, Jane Smiley, Hilma Wolitzer, Meg Wolitzer, Kelly Cherry, Lorrie Moore, Susan Richards Shreve, Mary Morris, Agnes Rossi, Elizabeth Strout, Elizabeth Dewberry, Elizabeth Spencer, Valeria Luiselli, Dorothy Allen, Aimee Bender, Ann Beattie, Susan Dodd, Mary Volmer, Karen Russell, Elizabeth Macklin, Janet Peery, Carol Edgarian, Pamela Painter, Jennifer Egan, Jean Stafford, Terry McMillan, Sydney Blair, Katherine Mansfield, Joan Didion, Alice McDermott, Christine Schutt, Ru Freeman, Nadine Gordimer, Harriet Doerr, Danzy Senna, Helen Norris, Kate Braverman, Gina Berriault, Adrienne Harun, Molly Giles, Ellen Gilchrist, Zadie Smith, Toni Morrison, Anne Tyler, Kamila Shamsie, Alice Hoffman, Sue Miller, Dorothy Parker, Isabelle Allende, Marguerite Duras, Jeanette Winterson, AS Byatt, Elena Ferrante, Murial Barbarym, Susan Orlean, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jumptha Lahiri, Lidia Yuknavitch, Roxane Gay, Jane Gardam, Beryl Bainbridge, Anita Brookner, Zoe Heller, Maile Meloy, Lauren Groff, Madeleine Thien, Margaret Atwood, Lauren B Davis, Kathleen Winter, Lisa Moore, Alissa York, Susan Swan, Elissa Schappell, Lara Vapnyar, Miriam Toews, Nell Freudenberger, Marilynne Robinson, Bharati Mukherjee, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Francine Prose, Julie Orringer, Carol Bly, Deborah Eisenberg, Julie Iromuanya, Antonya Nelson, Carolyn Ferrell, Amy Bloom, Mary Robison, Beth Nugent, ZZ Packer, Joy Williams, Jean Thompson, Elizabeth Tallent, Ana Menéndez, Edwidge Danticat, Lucia Berlin, Ann Patchett, Jennifer Haigh, Ellen Gilchrist, Alice Walker, Julia Alvarez, Grace Paley, Jamaica Kincaid, Mary Gaitskill, Dana Spiotta, Julia Glass, Roxana Robinson, Laura van den Berg, Samantha Hunt, Kelly Link, Pam L. Houston, Valeria Luiselli, Pattiann Rogers, Diane Ackerman, Gladys Swan, Diana Athill, Mavis Gallant, Jamie Quatro, Amy Hemphill, Kaye Gibbons, Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, Rajia Hassib, Marie Manilla, Bobbie Ann Mason, Lisa Koger, Rebecca Hill, Katherine Dunn, Molly Ivins, Doris Lessing, Tanith Lee, Angela Carter, Shirley Jackson, Joy Castro, Edith Pearlman, Kim Edwards, Belle Boggs, Nancy Peacock, Joan Frank, Joan Silber, Haven Kimmel, Annie Dillard, Louise Erdrich, Elizabeth Strout, Nicole Krauss, Lydia Davis, Lidia Yuknavitch, Ursula K. Le Guin.
Let’s start there. How’s that? There are some women writers. The list is much, much longer. Let’s name some names.
