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Hi all,So good to see booktalk back on track;-)I am trying to put together a list of female/feminist writers/poets -focus on the 20th cen-, would you like to help?ThanksBookclover

Are you talking fiction only writers, or non-fiction as well? An excellent introductory book to feminism is Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti. Cheryl Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. -Thomas Jefferson

I don't know if she counts as feminist, but Iris Murdoch is definitely a thinker and writer to include on any list of prominent and influential 20th century female writers. Katherine Mansfield straddles the line between 19th and 20th, so whether or not you include her is probably a matter of taste. Dorothy Parker is impish, and certainly attacked social norms, but I don't know that she'd qualify as full-bred feminist. And I'm also a fan of Edith Templeton, a short story writer whose "The Darts of Cupid" shares certain affinities with the work of Bernard Malamud.

I meant novelists and poets but thanks both for the suggestions!

Maybe you should include Angela Carter and Flannery O'Connor. And they're probably the only female writers I give a fig about. My Blog - with hidden tunes

I think you would want to include The Women's Room by Marilyn French. George http://www.godlessinamerica.com"Godlessness is not about denying the existence of nonsensical beings. It is the starting point for living life without them."Godless in America by George A. Ricker

I agree with Mad on Mansfield, though she straddles the line between 19th and 20th century, her work is very 20th centuryish. I would also include Kate Chopin in the same way.

Edith Wharton might be the same as Mansfield and Chopin, though I think most consider her a 20th century writer.

Otherwise, in no particular order:

Shirley Jackson
Sylvia Plath
Katherine Anne Porter
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Toni Morrison
Zora Neale Hurston
Ntozake Shange
Harper Lee
Alice Walker
Bharati Mukherjee
Virginia Woolf
Nella Larsen
Margaret Atwood
Doris Lessing
E. Annie Proulx
Arundhati Roy

And if you're including juvenile fiction:

Laura Ingalls Wilder
Beatrix Potter

Well, that's who I thought of so far. I'll add to it, if others come to mind. Fill us in on your final list, when you reach it, bookclover.

And they're probably the only female writers I give a fig about.

Niall, do you mean they are the only 20th century female writers you give a fig about, or the only female writers ever?

Either way, whenever I encounter statements like that, I don't wonder if there are other female writers for you to give a fig about. It just makes me wonder how many you could have possibly read.

Niall, do you mean they are the only 20th century female writers you give a fig about, or the only female writers ever?

Either way, whenever I encounter statements like that, I don't wonder if there are other female writers for you to give a fig about. It just makes me wonder how many you could have possibly read.

I'm a man with very particular preferences. I have no great love for the 19th century in general, so that rules out a lot of the traditional big hitters. That's not to say that I don't appreciate many of the technical achievements, only that I don't have the love I'd have for even technically inferior works. I haven't anything prior to 19th century by a female writer with the sole exception of a rather weird utopian text by an author whose name I can't remember. It wasn't very good on - on any level.

I've grown to dislike feminist fiction in general because I've tended to find it rather manufactured. In many cases, it just seems like the story is incidental to the book.

Of the writers mentioned so far, I've read works by Sylvia Plath, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Harper Lee, Virginia Woolf, Dorris Lessing, Irish Murdoch and Jeannette Winterson. Many of these were perfectly good in their own way, but it was only in the cases of Angela Carter and Flannery O'Connor that I felt the need to read the rest of the author's works.

Niall, I'm certainly not saying that the authors I think worth mentioning are the ones that are going to pull your ribbons. I merely meant what I said. When I come across comments like yours, I think they speak more to the limited experiences of the individual rather than to that individual's insidious implications. But I think those implications can be damaging, so I usually note them when I come across them.

Also, just to clarify, bookclover had asked for a list of female/feminist writers/poets, I read that as female and/or feminist, not specifically feminist. I think, despite some feminist tendencies that might be in their literature, very few authors write with the intention of being a feminist writer, as it is such a limiting tag.

...but it was only in the cases of Angela Carter and Flannery O'Connor that I felt the need to read the rest of the author's works.

Last, I don't think each and every work from my list of authors is worth mentioning. But, if you are compiling a list of female authors who contributed to 20th century literature, I think the women I submitted are worth mentioning. And I'm sure there are plenty more.

Fair enough Irish, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. You'll need a shovel, a torch and a great imagination to find any insidious implications in what I've said.