These are the women you need to know, and you’ll soon find out why. They’re an inspiration to us all for their talents, their passion and what they have achieved. In no particular order, let’s jump right into it!
Toni Morrison – 18 February 1931 – 5 August 2019
Toni Morrison was an American novelist, essayist, editor, teacher, and professor emeritus at Princeton University. But if that wasn’t impressive enough, she was also known for receiving some very important awards such as the National Book Critics Circle Award for ‘Song of Solomon’.
Toni, born ‘Chloe Ardelia Wofford’ acheived so much in her life. Not only did she receive an award for Song of Solomon, but there was also the Pulitzer Prize in 1988, the Nobel Prize in 1993 (in which she was the first African-American woman to receive), the National Humanities Medal in 2000 and awarded by then President of the United States, Barack Obama, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
Toni was known for her novels themes, her art of writing, and her exquisite detailing of the African-American characters in her books. Fan favourites are: The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Mercy and of course, Song of Solomon. These are only a few of her well loved novels.
Toni passed away at the age of 88 in New York, United States. She lived a full life, speaking her truth and was an inspiration to many, many people around the world.
FACT: Did you know Toni Morrison is the first female African-American writer of any nationality to win the Nobel Prize?
Agatha Christie – 15 September 1890 – 15 January 1976
Agatha Christie was and even after her death still is the best-selling author of all time.
Born ‘Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller’ she has sold over a billion copies of her books. Agatha Christie is known for her plays and of course her novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The ABC Murders, Death on the Nile and many more. Agatha was also known for creating two of the most popular characters in crime fiction: Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple.
Another important note was her work as a nurse during World War I, tending to the troops and her work in a hospital pharmacy where she gained some knowledge that influenced the writing for her characters; as most of the murders involving poison.
Agatha passed away at the age of 86 in Winterbrook, United Kingdom. She is the most celebrated author of all time, and rightly so. She will continue to live on through her many novels.
FACT: Did you know Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott?
Maya Angelou – 4 April 1928 – 28 May 2014
Maya Angelou was an American poet, singer, dancer, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She was best known for her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, where she made history for it being the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. She has also received a nomination for a Tony Award and a nomination for an Emmy. Maya was also a member of the Harlem Writers Guild, and was a freelance writer and editor while she spent time abroad in the 60’s.
Born ‘Marguerite Annie Johnson Angelou’ sadly her childhood was not an easy one. Being African-American, Maya experienced racism when she moved to Arkansas as a child, after her parents split and she (along with her brother) was sent to live with their grandparent. Later, she was sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend. This ended in him being killed by her uncles. Being understandably traumatized by these events, she sadly stopped talking and was mute for quite some time.
Maya Angelou passed away at the age of 86 in North Carolina, United States. Her talent, and her strength is evident when you read about her life. Not only a poet, singer, dancer, memoirist, civil rights activist and more, but a strong woman who faced challenges but continued anyway!
FACT: Did you know Maya Angelou was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal in 2001 AND her son is also a poet?
J. K. Rowling – Born: 31 July 1965
J. K. Rowling, not only is she the very talented author behind the Harry Potter series, she is also a screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist. Rowling also writes crime fiction, under the pen name Robert Galbraith. Once word got out who was behind the pen name, sales skyrocketed for The Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm, Lethal White and more. She is the ninth-best-selling fiction author of all time with around 500 million copies sold.
Born ‘Joanne Rowling’ she has faced quite a lot of rejection. You will be shocked to know that her first Harry Potter manuscript was rejected by 12 publishers before it was picked up. Crazy! To think that if Bloomsbury didn’t give her a go, we could have lived in a world without Harry Potter! Let’s not even go there…
As of 2004, Forbes named J. K. Rowling the first to become a US dollar billionaire by writing books. What an achievement. Struggling to make ends meet and take care of her family as she was writing the first Harry Potter book, she soldiered on her dreams really came true.
J. K. Rowling currently resides in Scotland. She has 3 children. And is said to be writing another novel under the pen name Robert Galbraith (book #5 in the Cormoran Strike series). She already has a plot, according to The New York Times.
FACT: Did you know that J. K. Rowling writes her stories in longhand first, with good old fashion pen and paper and then proceeds to Microsoft Word?
Ursula K. Le Guin – 21 October 1929 – 22 January 2018
Ursula was a writer, poet, essayist and well known for her sci-fi and fantasy masterpieces. Ursula published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, and six volumes of poetry. Ursula has been honoured with many awards such as the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, Prometheus Hall of Fame Award and that’s only some of them! Some of her novels are: The Left Hand of Darkness, the Earthsea series, Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile and City of Illusions.
Born ‘Ursula Kroeber’ her childhood was one in which she was surrounded by encouragement to explore art, ideas and cultures. Her mother, Theodora, was also a writer, and her father was Alfred Kroeber, a famous anthropologist.
Sadly, Ursula’s work was rejected more than once. Her first novel was written at the age of 11. After it was rejected by Astounding Science Fiction, she did not submit anything else for another 10 years. Later, she wrote five novels that were all rejected by publishers. Thankfully, she continued to write and did not let these rejections stop her.
Ursula passed away at the age of 88 in Portland, Oregon, United States.
FACT: Did you know Ursula loved mythology and went on to attend Radcliffe College, and later graduated with an MA from Columbia University?
Margaret Atwood – Born: 18 November 1939
– Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is a poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, inventor, teacher, and environmental activist. Margaret is known for her novels such as The Edible Woman, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, The Handmaid’s Tale (the book behind the very popular TV show) and most recently, releasing September 2019, the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments. Margaret is known for being open on her thoughts regarding women’s rights, women’s reproductive rights and sexuality. When she released ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ in 1985 she explored these subjects which were very controversial at the time; even now given the current conversations regarding women’s reproductive rights. She is also passionate about the environment, particularly climate change. I love that she is open about her thoughts and explores these issues via her writing and you will hear her talking about her passions in interviews. This and other reasons made this an easy decision to add her to this list.
Margaret currently resides in Toronto with her husband Graeme Gibson who is also a writer.
FACT: Did you know that in 2004 Margaret invented The LongPen? A remote signing device that allows a person to remotely write in ink anywhere in the world via tablet PC and the Internet using a robotic hand. This way, Margaret can sign as many books as possible. Watch it in action here!
Charlotte Brontë – 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855
Charlotte Brontë was an English writer in the 19th century who brought us many classics such as Jane Eyre (using pseudonym Currer Bel), The Professor, Shirley and Villette. Her first novel however, The Professor, was published in 1857 after her death. Charlotte was a governess and a teacher before she decided to return home to her family that she missed dearly.
Though successful in her writing, Charlotte sadly had a lot of loss in her life. She lost her mother, then her brother, Branwell, and sister, Emily, both in 1848. Her other sister Anne then passed 1849. Sadly, Charlotte was to also die at a young age.
Charlotte Brontë passed away at the young age of 39 in Haworth, Yorkshire, England.
FACT: Did you know that the cause of her death was Hyperemesis Gravidarum? (Think Princess Kate). How awful!
Jane Austen – 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817
Jane Austen was known for her social commentary in the classics such as: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park and more. In her own era, Jane was not well known. Many years after her death, her work became popular.
Jane Austen was close with her family, particularly her sister Cassandra whom she would one day publish a book with. Her love of the written word started early with her father encouraging them to read from his extensive library. Creative thinking and learning was encouraged in the household. Later, Jane became unwell, it is thought she had Addison’s Disease (other’s believe cancer or tuberculosis was the cause of her death, this is not certain). Despite her falling ill, one year before she died she continued to keep things as normal as possible, she even started a novel (Sanditon) before her health deteriorated to the point where she had to stop writing.
Jane Austen passed away at the young age of 41 in Winchester, Hampshire, England.
FACT: Did you know that it wasn’t until after her Jane’s death that it was revealed she was in fact the author of her classic novels? Her brother made the announcement to the public.
I hope you enjoyed reading about these women and will now see why these are the names you should know.
Which female authors have inspired you the most? I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Emma xx
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