Five female writers all women should read

In the last six years, three of the five Pulitzer Fiction Prize winners have been women, the latest of which, earlier in 2014 broke records by reaching the New York Times bestsellers list in the first week of her book’s release.



Donna Tartt, famous for being a prolific author, often taking many years to complete a single book (her Pulitzer Prizewinning book “The Goldfinch, having taken around 11 years) is the latest in a long list of successful and innovative women in the field of literature, and there is a whole host of women whose work deserves to be taken seriously in 2014 and beyond.



Emma Donoghue



This Irish-born author and playwright has recently found international fame with her Bestseller ‘Room’, which tells the story of a five year old buy who has been imprisoned in a  room with his mother for his entire life. Her latest book ‘Frog Music’was released earlier in 2014, and has earned her a place on Time’s list of female authors to watch in 2014.



Zadie Smith



In 2000, Smith was lauded as one of the brightest young novelists of the 21st century, and though it was early days, her first book called ‘White Teeth’earned a spot on Time’s 100 Best English Language Novels of the last 100 years, and has seen her compared to Charles Dickens and John Irving.


Penelope Fitzgerald


Winner of the Booker Prize for her final novel titled ‘Blue Flower’, and widely regarded as one of the best English writers of the last century, Fitzgerald has incredible power and the imagery and context crammed into her often short novels will make any reader feel like they've gotten more than their money’s worth.



Isabel Wilkerson


Another Pulitzer Prize winner for her critically acclaimed non-fiction work ‘The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration’tells the real life story of the individuals who lived through the migration.


Lionel Shriver


In 2005, Shriver’s novel ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’won the famed Orange Prize for Fiction, and was later adapted into a feature film starring the likes of Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly. She has since released four novels and remains active as an award winning journalist.




Written by Wesley Geyer


Creative Writer

Dr Maya Angelou – A phenomenal woman

Dr Maya Angelou, writer and civil rights activist was born on April 4^th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She is well-known for her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which was published in 1969 and made literary history by being the first nonfiction best-seller written by an African-American woman.


Her poetry collection Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die was published in 1971 and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in that same year. She has received numerous honors throughout her career, amongst those two NAACP Image Awards in the category for outstanding literary work (nonfiction), which was awarded to her in 2005 and 2009 respectively.





Dr Maya’s talents include being an author, actress, screenwriter, dancer and poet. She was born with the name Marguerite Annie Johnson and at a young age her parents split up, which led to her growing up with her brother at their father’s mother in Arkansas.


Here she was exposed to racial prejudices, discrimination and at the age of 7 she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. After the rape, her uncles killed the boyfriend and the whole process led to such intense trauma that Angelou spent several years in Arkansas as a virtual mute.


In 1944, at the age of 16 Angelou gave birth to a son, Guy, which saw her working a number of jobs to support both herself and her child. 8 years later, she married a Greek sailor called Anastasios Angelopulos and this led her to her professional name which is a blend of her childhood nickname “Maya” and a shortened version of her husband’s surname.


In the mid 1950’s her performance career began to take off with several roles in touring productions, off-Broadway productions and the release of her first album in 1957 called Miss Calypso.


She also became a member of the Harlem Writers Guild and started her work as civil rights activist by organizing and starring in the musical revue Cabaret for Freedom as a benefit for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She spent much of the 1960’s abroad, living first in Egypt and then Ghana, where she held a position at the country’s university.


Upon her return to the United States, a friend and fellow writer called James Baldwin, urged her to write about her life experiences. This resulted in the 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which saw her become an international star.


She has continued to break new ground and wrote the drama Georgia, Georgia in 1972, becoming the first African-American woman to have her screenplay produced. She later earned a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Look Away  in 1973 and in 1977 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on television series Roots.


Angelou’s later successes include the following:


·         All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes (1986 – autobiography)


·         A Song Flung Up to Heaven(2002 – autobiography)


·         Directing Down in the Delta (1998)


·         Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now(1994 – essay collection)


·         Great Food, All Day Long(2010 – cookbook)


·         And many more not mentioned here





On Angelou’s birthday in 1968, a close friend  Dr Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated and many years after this incident she stopped celebrating her birthday and instead sent flowers to King Jr’s widow, Coretta Scott King until her death in 2006. Angelou was also good friends with TV personality Oprah Winfrey who organised many a birthday celebration for her.


After a few years with health issues, Maya Angelou died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on 28 May 2014, a tragedy that shocked many and even prompted a statement from President Barack Obama in which he called her “a brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman.” He wrote: “Angelou had the ability to remind us that we are all God’s children, that we all have something to offer.”