September 8th, 2009 / 3:35 pm
Author News
15 Significant Contemporary Women Writers
Blake’s recent post on Towering Literary Figures inspired me to consider a list of significant contemporary (living) women writers. By significant I mean significant to me: women writers who I admire and who I feel have significantly contributed to the advancement of literature.
Perhaps someone else on the Giant staff will take up this theme and focus on writers of color, or GLBT writers, or writers from Australia, or writers with children, or writers still living with their mothers, or etc.
For the record, I understand that what I am doing here is, to a degree, essentialist: by labeling a writer based on their gender I am furthering a world in which these distinctions exist. Furthermore, I completely sympathize with the position that argues that we should not see color or sex or race or whatever, that we should instead see only writers.
But, alas, differences exist.
So, with my disclaimer now fully realized, I give you my list of contemporary women writers that I think kick a lot of ass –(in black&white and in no particular order):
Tags: Anne Carson, women writers
anne fucking carson. amen.
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September 10th, 2009 / 1:45 pmbarry—
still no JAYNE ANNE PHILLIPS ??
are you people out of your fucking minds ??
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September 10th, 2009 / 10:11 pmChristopher Higgs—
Hi Barry,
I’m unfamiliar with Jayne Anne Phillips. I’ve just gone and looked at a few representative samples from her website and from the first few pages of her books Lark & Termite and Fastlanes and a few others…and from this (admittedly brief) encounter I get the sense that she is a story-driven writer who is interested in conventional realism, which does not appeal to me at all. You’ll notice that the majority (if not all?) of the writers I have selected tend toward the experimental, which is what appeals to me. If I’m wrong in my assessment of Jayne Anne Phillips please let me know. I am always eager to learn about other experimental writers.
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September 11th, 2009 / 12:21 ambarry—
you are correct sir. a very gritty realism.
Nice list. I’d probably add Claudia Rankine and maybe…… Yoko Tawada.
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lydia davis and lorrie moore i would add
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let begin the list of those ‘you didnt think of’
agoogoogoo
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September 8th, 2009 / 3:50 pmBlake Butler—
you white devil
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September 8th, 2009 / 3:55 pmChristopher Higgs—
Oh goddamn it! You promised not to use our pet names for each other on the internet, Misogynator.
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September 8th, 2009 / 3:56 pmBlake Butler—
Joyelle Mcsweeney ftw
September 8th, 2009 / 3:56 pmBlake Butler—
mwah
September 8th, 2009 / 4:03 pmMatt—
ha, yeah, it sucks to hear about other, potentially good writers.
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September 8th, 2009 / 4:07 pmBlake Butler—
naw, naw, i’m just goofin
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September 8th, 2009 / 4:17 pmMatt—
I know, but I say bring it. I’ve been meaning to read Ducornet for a while, for example.
September 8th, 2009 / 4:18 pmBlake Butler—
you know i love you matt.
September 8th, 2009 / 4:18 pmBlake Butler—
and ducornet slays. hard.
September 10th, 2009 / 4:19 pmTim Jones-Yelvington—
just read phosphor and dreamland and thought it was fucking hysterical.
jeanette winterson. yes yes yes.
i second lorrie moore. i think mary gaitskill is pretty dope too.
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September 8th, 2009 / 4:10 pmChristopher Higgs—
I know I’m going to ruffle some tail feathers here, but I can’t get with Lorrie Moore. I saw Jonathan Lethem’s recent review of her new book in the NYTimes, in which he begins by saying everybody he knows loves Lorrie Moore except for one person and that person is apologetic about it. Then he proceeds to say something like “how can you not love a writer who brings you a story about a baby with cancer” —
Seriously!?
I’m sorry. I just can’t get with Lorrie Moore.
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September 8th, 2009 / 4:27 pmJimmy Chen—
lorrie moore doesn’t feel like serious literature, which is what i think readers really respond to — stories for the sake of their characters, not the author/language, though her language is beautiful. the stories make fun of themselves, yet are really moving and touching. the stories actually bring me to tears, like real droplets that fall on the book in exclamation point sauce, seriously. no writer can do that.
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September 8th, 2009 / 4:55 pmlorian—
lethem’s review was pretty terrible.
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September 8th, 2009 / 5:22 pm+!O0o(o)o0O!+—
Moore’s amazing, horrific, meta-realist story about the baby with blood in its diaper is really similar in structure/approach and predates the previously HTMLGiant-lauded story (“Demonology”) by Moody about his sister’s death. It’s called “People Like That Are The Only People Here” – read it (again) and reconsider.
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September 8th, 2009 / 7:19 pmlorian—
“how to talk to a jewish hunter” is also fantastic.
September 10th, 2009 / 2:24 pmdavid erlewine—
that bloody diaper story … I think of that one far too often. makes it hard sometimes to grin at my two young kids and act like they’re so safe.
September 10th, 2009 / 2:59 pmAmber—
I’ve always thought that kid with cancer story fantastic. In fact, I find Lorrie Moore fantastic, though I’ve never cared for her novels very much. I don’t find the things she writes ABOUT very interesting, and if she were anyone else I wouldn’t read her at all. But her writing is brilliant, and her characters are so fascinating and real and dynamic that I can get into even a story about the relationship between a mother and a daughter traveling together.
Alice Notley
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September 8th, 2009 / 4:06 pmChristopher Higgs—
Good call.
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claire davis
ellen bass
dorianne laux
amy fusselman
aimee bender
ruth stone
zadie smith
jco
thisbe nissen
aforementioned in my 15 favs:
bonnie jo campbell
elizabeth ellen
mary miller
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I like Zadie Smith’s books for their insight, humour, scope and unsentimental cultural empathy. Also, she has a unique talent for making her characters absolutely believable, no matter how unbelievable they actually are.
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Susan Howe
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September 8th, 2009 / 8:24 pmChristopher Higgs—
Right on, Adam. I teetered on whether or not to include Susan Howe, but I’m not as familiar with her work as i am with others on this list. My wife is really into her. Of what I’ve read, Howe is amazing.
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Joan Didion
Toni Morrison
Susan Howe
Gayl Jones
Lydia Davis
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September 8th, 2009 / 4:53 pmlorian—
i still think didion should be “towering” not “significant”
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September 8th, 2009 / 7:02 pmmark—
yep, a giant. for me only garcia marquez and vollmann are comparably towering, among living writers.
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September 10th, 2009 / 3:01 pmAmber—
Agreed. I bet just about everybody loves some Didion and hates some, but she certains towers in the literary world as far as I’m concerned.
September 8th, 2009 / 6:39 pmchristian—
throughout all these towering conversations i’ve had a tough time thinking of somebody who actually towers, but i think gayl jones fucking towers.
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September 9th, 2009 / 5:50 pmjames yeh—
joan didion, yes
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i like margaret atwood. her books smell like pine needles.
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when caren beilin has a collection, if she ever has a collection, i think it will be really great. i also like zadie smith.
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kathy acker
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September 8th, 2009 / 5:24 pm+!O0o(o)o0O!+—
12 years gone . . .
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September 10th, 2009 / 2:25 pmdavid erlewine—
Spencer Dew asked me to say thank you.
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christine schutt.
christine schutt.
christine schutt.
though i can’t vouch for the last jawn, florida and both collections are monsters.
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September 8th, 2009 / 5:03 pmRyan Call—
amen.
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Charolette Roche. Amy Gerstler.
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September 8th, 2009 / 5:05 pmJaney Smith—
I can’t think today. It’s Charlotte Roche.
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All of these new (to me) names! Can’t wait to read! :)
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Leni Zumas?
Or do these people have to have “towering” characteristics?
She only has one collection out but “Farewell Navigator” really stands out amongst books I’ve read in the last year or 2.
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Jorie Graham is like plain white bread with no butter or jam.
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September 8th, 2009 / 8:26 pmChristopher Higgs—
Dude, I implore you to relook at The End of Beauty and revise your sentiment.
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big ups on christine brooke-rose. does your list implicate “living”? b/c I think Kathy Acker deserves to be on any list that mentions contemporary lit alone, especially “women” in contemporary lit.
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September 8th, 2009 / 8:23 pmChristopher Higgs—
Yeah, I wanted to limit myself to living. If not, you would be absolutely right: Kathy Acker kills it.
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September 9th, 2009 / 12:36 ammike—
forgot to add: Though she only has two books so far, I also think Ariana Reines will be doing more excellent things for the rest of her life
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Joy Harjo, Mary Ruffle, Eileen Myles?
Jenny Boully is very good and has an amazing couple of books. Putting her in the same group as Carson, Graham and Mullen… I don’t know about that.
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September 8th, 2009 / 6:54 pmalan—
I mentioned Eileen Myles under Blake’s list. And Mary Gaitskill.
Here I would add Amanda Filipacchi, a favorite of mine.
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I think you have to put Laura Hird on there. Born Free was an amazing novel, and Hope was a really tough and well written collection of shorts. On top of that she does a lot of good stuff nurturing up and coming talent via her site.
And I’m with Christopher Higgs about Lorrie Moore. I really hate all of that twee stuff.
And since Kathy Acker got a posthumous shout out, I’m gonna shout out Anna Kavan, who is more of a ’sadly neglected and under appreciated dead women writer’ but she never gets props so I had to do it.
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September 8th, 2009 / 8:27 pmChristopher Higgs—
Anna Kavan, YES! So many good dead women writers. I’m unfamiliar with Laura Hird, will have to seek her out.
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September 10th, 2009 / 2:26 pmdavid erlewine—
She has a great website and publishes other writers’ stories on it quite a bit.
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I’m glad Kelly Link is in there.
Amelie Nothomb.
I used to love Jeanette Winterson. When I first read her years back, her circular narratives and particular brand of magic realism were like a revelation.
I think she wrote some absolutely stunning books …. but then I feel like she started just recycling her ideas. So I love certain novels of hers, but think the last few of hers let her down. It’s like she’s incredibly gifted with language but after a while she seemed to stop bothering with plot. I’m never sure if she ran out of ideas, or just sort of had her winning formula perfected, and was selling so well she just stopped bothering.
She sometimes gets associated with Angela Carter (and she cites her as an influence.) I find Carter stronger, overall. Darker too, which I like.
Toni Morrison.
Alice Walker.
I like Atwood.
And I do like Miranda July. (Hers, Amelie Nothomb’s, and Kelly Link’s writing all seem to inhabit the same sort of universe.) But … that’s on dint of loving just the one collection. And um. Me, You And Everyone We Know. So maybe not.
Oh. And Arundhati Roy. But again, just for the one thing.
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September 8th, 2009 / 8:29 pmChristopher Higgs—
Roberta, I had never thought of Kelly Link & Miranda July as inhabiting the same sort of universe…would love to hear more about that idea.
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September 8th, 2009 / 8:42 pmRoberta—
i have insomnia so excuse any sleep-deprived babble.
the reason i think their writing sits together, somehow is to do with the nod they both give to fairytale tradition, i think. obv. with kelly link it’s pretty overt. there’s the same sense of magic put in this very contemporary context. maybe it’s to do with the very subtly distorted worlds they give us? i don’t know. link does it in noticeably magic realist ways. i think miranda july more gives us feelings, ideas we can recognise that seem to come more recognisably from reality, but the feeling they leave us with is similar.
plus they both feel faintly dream-like. (there’s that awesome kelly link story about a tv show called ‘the library’ which just feels like a familiar dream. same kind of feeling neil gaiman creates.)
i’d put ms. nothomb into that universe too.
i don’t mean that each of them aren’t stand-alones.
it’s just something about adult writers who can keep that sense of childlike wonder (which has a lot to do with fairytale roots, i think) alive, but chuck it into an adult context, and make sure it isn’t cloying. humour prob plays a big part in it too.
i’d throw dan rhodes into that too, though he fails on the whole being female thing.
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definitely second christine schutt and amelia notham.
surprised not to see a.m homes mentioned. so i’ll mention her.
am also a big fan of ellen gilchrist.
joyce carol oates is also notably missing … i’ have a feeling i’ll be labelled totally uncool for mentioning her but i think some of her stuff is pretty great.
didion is overrated.
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September 8th, 2009 / 6:56 pmryan—
i had jco on mine, i just shortened her name :)
i agree about didion
and i considered putting homes on my list, but i didn’t feel like i’d read enough of her work (one novel and a smattering of stories)
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September 8th, 2009 / 7:24 pmlorian—
i think didion is a class above joyce carol oates and atwood because she still writes for the sake of a sentence rather than the nice little “industry” she’s built for herself. she bleeds. atwood and jco smile. i’d call didion a “writer” and atwood and jco “successful authors.”
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September 10th, 2009 / 4:26 pmTim Jones-Yelvington—
wanted to like jco, but hated the book I started with (Faithless). I get that “maximalism” or whatever is her think, but it read like word vomit, I thought, and how many times can you reference “rank animal stench” in the same volume?
September 8th, 2009 / 7:28 pmLauren—
oops. sorry for not noticing the jco reference. i just like to call her joyce carol. I have wondered on more than one occasion (again with the uncoolness) if she makes people call her joyce carol.
a.m. homes most recent novel (this book will save your life) was underwhelming but i highly recommend safety of objects and music for torching, and pretty much everything else she’s written.
not a popular view, since it was about her husband’s death and her daugher’s serious illness, but didion’s recent memoir was self-conscious and self-indulgent. i disliked it so much that it pretty much cancelled my previous opinion of her (though i had only read play it as it lays a hundred years ago and liked it.)
what about doris lessing?
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September 8th, 2009 / 7:42 pmryan—
i think it would be great if she made people call her JC. what up, JC?
i read The End of Alice, which i enjoyed, but when i think of her i am haunted and riveted by a story i read in Mcsweeneys about a woman stalking teenage couples and trying to inseminate herself. Brilliant.
i haven’t read any new didion in a long time, i just was over her after all the shit i had to read as an undergrad.
i haven’t read any lessing…
September 8th, 2009 / 7:49 pmRoberta—
i liked the fifth child, though it’s a long time since i read it. i always presumed lessing was a trailblazer at a given time.
i think i saw her read a few years back, and somehow she’s just failed to make much impression on me, which is weird.
September 8th, 2009 / 8:08 pmLauren—
ryan — i am haunted by that same story. brilliant is the right word for it. and stunning. i have a terrible memory and that’s one that has stuck with me.
i still like thinking jco makes people call her joyce carol. i’ve heard she is a major bitch at readings when asked questions. i hope to question her one day.
roberta — i liked the fifth child and ben in the world, though lessing has written some stuff i’ve not responded, too. just curious what people thought.
September 8th, 2009 / 9:00 pmLauren—
the a.m. homes story is called georgica and it’s included in her book “things you should know.”
Filipacchi is great.
Michelle Tea is also going to be legendary in due time.
Miriam Toews is also unstoppable.
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i’m not going to call her a ‘towering’ author (actually i wouldn’t call half the authors i cited that. i just like them, is all.) but i actually think isabel allende is pretty strong, in her way.
the thing that stops me really full-on loving her writing is it’s basically pretty ‘nice.’ she likes happy endings. she’ll write about south american atrocities of the last few decades but she doesn’t go too deep under the surface, and she doesn’t seem to want to shock us too much. maybe it’s a mass appeal thing. maybe it’s more comfortable for her – i don’t know.
if there was less of that romance feeling underlying her stuff, i think she could be really strident.
(not that she’s not really talented. i just think she imposes limits on where she’ll go.)
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Are we taking the female authors Blake named in his post as a given? Because I’d take Hempel and Diane Williams over most of the people named here.
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cynthia ozick
adrienne rich
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September 8th, 2009 / 9:05 pmRoberta—
i love adrienne rich.
i think she towers. i sometimes just find her poetic voice really powerful, and not quite haunting, but unforgettable.
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September 8th, 2009 / 9:43 pmaudri—
yes yes yes. i think her whole career has been towering. from diving into the wreck to an atlas of the difficult world to more recent collections like school among the ruins, i think she has been consistent in stabbing heaven into submission with her spires and badassity.
i declare you winner.
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September 8th, 2009 / 10:50 pmlorian—
both really good choices.
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lauren,
thanks for the title and collection of that story, i look forward to reading the rest of the stories!
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Differences exist, yeah, but if all-male lists existed, I don’t think lists like this one would bug people. But they don’t. Because most “greatest” lists or the like are “de facto” largely male. That an all-female list needs to exist implies second-class citizenship. You gotta see that, yeah? It also doesn’t help that you and Blake are, well, are guys and probably white ones at that. You can’t not catch flack.
In any event, if your list doesn’t include Pat Barker and Chimimanda Adichie because you haven’t read them, please, go read them. I also agree that Atwood should be on the list. But good choice with Kelly Link. LOVE her.
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September 8th, 2009 / 9:52 pmKati—
Chimamanda, I mean. Obvi.
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September 8th, 2009 / 10:51 pmlorian—
amen, kati.
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Joy Williams? Perhaps?
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September 9th, 2009 / 12:29 amJonny Ross—
second
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September 9th, 2009 / 5:49 pmjames yeh—
third
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Jorie Graham… :gag:
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Carole Maso! Carole Maso! I’m damn pleased to see she made your list. The Art Lover is one of my all-time favorites.
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woo hoo! carole maso. oh yes!
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at the risk of sounding sexist (or misogynist or something)… why are all you women writers so f’ing hot?!?!?!
i’m on book sites right now wish listing.
thanks!
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kate braverman. (currently reading Lithium for Medea.) def most intense reading i’ve ever been to.
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September 9th, 2009 / 3:13 pmlorian—
i want to read kate braverman. i think i will like her.
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JOY WILLIAMS
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If you’re including the recently departed too, what about Grace Paley? Tillie Olsen?
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A.M. Homes. And Dubravka Ugresic and Vedrana Rudan and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and
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[...] Blake Butler’s list of “15 Towering Literary Figures,” and Christopher Higgs’ list of “15 Significant Contemporary Women Writers.” Both were great, and I disagreed vehemently with those who criticized Blake for not putting [...]
[...] list of “15 Towering Literary Figures” and Christopher Higgs’ list of “15 Significant Contemporary Women Writers,” Michael Schaub makes his own list: “15 Rich-Ass Authors I’ve Suddenly Decided to [...]
i would echo
am homes
amy hempel
and am really glad to see
mary miller
and would add in
holly goddard jones
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October 13th, 2009 / 10:32 amRichard—
knew i forgot somebody
mary gaitskill
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C.D. Wright
Rosemarie Waldrop
Ariana Reines
Sarah Riggs
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