Literary Ladies Guide

Tove Ditlevsen (December 14, 1917 – March 7, 1976) was a Danish author best known for The Copenhagen Trilogy, an account of her life from childhood to adulthood, marriage, and drug addiction. She was also an accomplished and prolific poet.

Her contemporaries largely marginalized her work, despite the name she made for herself in Danish literary circles.

Ditlevsen’s work has seen a resurgence with the reissue of much of her body of work, especially the autofictional Copenhagen Trilogy, which has been translated into some thirty languages. Read More→

Ida B. Wells was a fearless crusader in the early civil rights movement. A journalist, editor, speaker, reformer, and suffragist, she was born on July 16, 1862 (and lived her big, courageous life until 1932). Get an introduction to her remarkable life and work with these fascinating facts about Ida B. Wells.

Wells was best known for spearheading a national antilynching campaign, through which she worked tirelessly and fearlessly to end the uniquely American practice of the public mob murders of Black Americans.

Wells’ reputation continues to grow, even decades after her death. Journalism awards have been established in her name, scholarships are endowed in her honor, and there’s a museum celebrating her legacy in her hometown in Mississippi. Read More→

Like many of the main characters in her novels, Australian-American writer Shirley Hazzard (1931–2016) traveled and moved homes from a young age. At first, this relocation was due to the decisions of parents responding to work or world events, and later to the dictates of her employers.

Photo at right, Shirley Hazzard in 2007, photo by Christopher Peterson. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Read More→

Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749) was a French mathematician, physicist, and translator. Her major work as a writer was Foundations of Physics, first published in 1740.

Her major work as a translator was the translation of fellow scientist Isaac Newton’s seminal book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy from its original Latin into French. Published in 1759, her translation is still the standard French translation to this day.

Émilie du Châtelet received a good education in literature, mathematics and science. After marrying the Marquis du Châtelet at the age of nineteen and bearing three children, she resumed her mathematical studies in 1733 at the age of twenty-six. Read More→

Shirley Jackson (1916 – 1965) was an American author whose work explored motifs of psychological horror. Presented here is a selection of quotes from Shirley Jackson’s best-known fiction in this genre, in which she was a master.

Many of her works addressed the dark side of human nature. “The Lottery” (1948)  is her best-known short story; standouts among her novels are The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. 

Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons  pioneered the genre of “momoirs” that inspired such writers as Erma Bombeck and Jean Kerr. In Jackson’s case, her own family life wasn’t quite as fun as the glossy and wry depictions in her pages.  Read More→

Introduction by Literary Ladies Guide: Although Monopoly is one of the most iconic board games in the world, the fascinating story of its origins has been lost to time. First published by Parker Brothers in 1935, the game’s invention was long credited to Charles Darrow, a salesman. But Monopoly was actually based on The Landlord’s Game, invented and patented by Lizzie Magie in 1904. 

The usurping game is now the best-selling modern board game, by far, with approximately 285 million copies sold. Its digital equivalent, Monopoly Go!, has amassed 150 million downloads, with millions of daily active users.

Some history of Lizzie Magie and her invention is explored in the following piece by Evan Atlas, who recently reimagined Magie’s creation as an online game called Prosperity. Read More→

June Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was a poet, playwright, and essayist, known for her political activism and commitment to human rights.

Her writing spanned thirty years and nearly thirty books, covering subjects such as marginalization, oppression, and inequality, as well as racial, political, and sexual identity.

She was also passionate about the use of Black English in writing and in education, and had a thriving teaching career in several universities. Read More→

Emma Goldman (1869 – 1940) was a noted as a promoter of the anarchist philosophy. Best known for her role in the development of its theories in the early twentieth century, she was also actively involved in other social reforms. “Marriage and Love,” one of her best-known and widely read essays.

This thoughtful, often cynical, and surprising examination of marriage in the early twentieth century still speaks to the contemporary institution in many ways.

In 1906, Goldman founded the Mother Earth Journal, serving as both an editor and frequent contributor. The essay that follows  was originally published by Mother Earth Publishing Association in 1911. It is in the public domain. Read More→