Literary Ladies Guide

Mary Hays (1759–1843) was an English writer whose main work was the six-volume compendium Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of All Ages and Countries, featuring the biographies of 300 notable women (in 294 entries) from ancient figures to nearly contemporaries.

Originally published in England in 1803, it was published in the United States four years later. Hays was also a poet and novelist.

Mary Hays was born into a family of Protestant dissidents who rejected the practices of the Church of England, the established church at the time. Read More→

Edna O’Brien (December 15, 1930—July 27, 2024) was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet, and short-story writer.

 Her work is noted for its lyrical depiction of women, sexuality, loneliness, emotional isolation, desire, survival, and rebellion. O’Brien is best known for her first novel, The Country Girls, which, upon its debut, was both denounced and lauded.

A prolific writer, O’Brien, challenged taboos of religion, sex, gender, patriarchy, and persecution. 

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Despite having been written more than 200 years ago (published in 1818, to be exact), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has stood the test of time. There have been around a thousand adaptations of the story to date — with yet another, the 2025 film Frankenstein from Guillermo del Toro the most recent to have joined their ranks.

In her book, with Frankenstein’s creature as her canvas, Mary Shelley (1797 – 1851) formed a distinct picture of society. Our “good” side manifests in the creature’s unexpected intelligence and elegant language, yet the “bad” layers of depression and violence begin to show as the story unfolds. Read More→

Sanora Babb (April 21, 1907 – December 31, 2005) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for the rediscovered novel of the Dust Bowl days, Whose Names are Unknown. It was written in the 1930s but went unpublished until 2004.

While living in Southern California during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Babb learned of the plight of the Dust Bowl migrants. She began working for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), taking detailed, copious notes about the lives of migrants.

Babb aimed to write a novel based on the notes, hoping that it would foster sympathy and understanding for the plight of migrant workers. Read More→

Toni Cade Bambara (born Miltona Mirkin Cade, March 25, 1939 – December 9, 1995) was a writer, civil rights activist, teacher, and documentary film-maker.

Well known for her 1980 novel The Salt Eaters, she was also hugely influential in the Black liberation and feminist movements. Her writing was inspired by the Black communities in which she lived and worked. She was concerned with injustice and oppression in general and of Black people in particular. Read More→

Bessie Amelia Emery Head (July 6, 1937 – April 17, 1986) was a novelist, journalist, and poet born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. She later left for Serowe, Botswana, and became an established literary figure across these two countries’ borders.

This overview of the  life and work of Bessie Head is an introduction to this notable literary figure who was instrumental in gaining a more international voice for African peoples. Read More→

So many books, so little time … especially since so many new and noteworthy books by women are published each year. But let’s not forget those who came before. There are a plethora of 20th-century women novelists whose works deserve to be rediscovered and read; here are a dozen of them.

This list is a small sampling of a treasure trove of women authors who were widely read in their lifetimes, yet have been somewhat forgotten — and shouldn’t be! This selection of 20th-century writers are worthy of rediscovery if you haven’t read them for a while, or to discover for the first time if they’re new to you.

You may also enjoy Bustle’s list of overlooked classic novels by women. Read More→

This essay is excerpted from “An Unreasonably Deep Analysis of Goodnight Moon: On Finding (or Creating) Meaning in Dreams” by Eponynonymous.

My daughter used to fight sleep like grim death. Every night as she was dozing off, she would suddenly recoil, bouncing back from that hypnagogic state with flailing arms and banshee screams. It was as if she saw what lay on the other side of sleep and what she saw was death. Oblivion. I don’t think the analogy is too dramatic.

To a baby, bedtime really is a little death. Her sense of self is tenuous, her dreams not so easily distinguished from reality, and her mind freighted with new experiences that some psychologists say have the effect of slowing time. As it was, my daughter came to recognize those grim portents of sleep, and one of them was Goodnight Moon. Read More→