The International Women’s Day celebration is here once again. Indeed, the world has been impacted by a lot of women, and the literary world is no exception. Here are some quick facts about these famous women authors you probably didn’t know about:
1. George Eliot
George T. Eliot
The author we know as “George Eliot” was actually a woman named Mary Ann Evans. She wrote under this pen name because women authors were not as highly regarded as men in her era.
2. Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing
When British author Doris Lessing was at the peak of her career, she sent two new novels under a pen name, Jane Somers, to her publisher. The works were rejected. Doris Lessing had wanted to illustrate just how difficult it is for a new writer to get published.
3. Buchi Emecheta
Buchi Emecheta
Second Class Citizen‘s author, Buchi Emecheta, was sixteen years old when she got married to her husband. Her background heavily influenced her work. Emecheta’s books are on the national curricula of several African countries, and she is remembered for championing women and girls in her writing.
4. Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women in three months! If you’re a writer, you know what a feat that absolutely is!
5. Chimamanda Adichie
Chimamanda Adichie
Celebrated Nigerian author of Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah, Dream Count, among others, Chimamanda Adichie studied medicine before crossing to Pharmacy. Eventually, she left medical school to pursue writing.
6. Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
American author Toni Morrison started writing in her mid-thirties. So a little motivation here, it’s never too early, never too late, to begin.
7. Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith
English author Zadie Smith took almost two years to write the first twenty pages of On Beauty.
8. Akwaeke Emezi
Akwaeke Emezi
The Death of Vivek Oji‘s author, Akwaeke Emezi, identifies as a non-binary transgender author, a fact unknown to the judges before their story, Freshwater, was nominated for the Women’s prize for fiction.
9. Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was San Francisco’s first-ever black female streetcar conductor. She was also the first black woman to be depicted on a dollar. Till date, she is among the most famous women authors to exist.
10. Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai
Malala started blogging for the BBC at the age of eleven, under the pseudonym Gul Makai, about life under the Taliban rule in Pakistan.
There are so many more famous women authors (this list is by no means, exhaustive). You can check out my blog on 54 Notable African Female Authors to read about more of these Amazons!
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