When you think of undercover reporting, what comes to mind? I have to admit that the image that came to my mind was some guy in a trench coat, wearing a fedora. That is, until I learned about the group of late nineteenth and early twentieth century reporters referred to as “stunt girls.”
These intrepid young women, following in the footsteps of Nellie Bly, pioneered the practice of underground investigative reporting in journalism.
Good journalism has always been about presenting the human story behind events large and small. It’s also about holding the powerful accountable for their actions, a cornerstone of democracy (at least in theory). Women have always had the desire, talent, and ability to participate in these endeavors. Read More→
Dawn Powell (1896 – 1965) is considered a “writer’s writer,” though nearly all of her work was out of print by the time she died. Overcoming a hard-knock early life in the American midwest, she moved to New York City in 1918 and fell in love with it. Dawn Powell’s New York novels and stories are among the most enduring of her works.
Though she wrote prolifically throughout her life, producing novels, short stories, poetry, and plays, she didn’t gain much notoriety — for better or worse — during her lifetime. To the joy of devoted fans and new readers alike, many of her works have been rediscovered and rereleased. Read More→
Eleanor H. Porter (December 19, 1868 – May 21, 1920) was best known as the author of Pollyanna, the children’s novel that took America by storm during the World War I years.
Most people today won’t know the name of the author of this classic, but many still understand what it means to be called a “Pollyanna.” According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, it’s “a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything.”
Pollyanna was published in 1913, on the eve of World War I — it would hardly seem the time for the story of a girl who could see the bright side of just about any situation, no matter how dire. But somehow the book struck a nerve and was an immediate hit with children as well as adults, and its popularity endured throughout those years. Read More→
There is Confusion by Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882 – 1961) was the first novel by the American editor, poet, essayist, educator, and author closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance movement.
In addition to her own pursuits, Cornell-educated Fauset was known as one of the “literary midwives” of the movement, someone who encouraged and supported other talents.
Fauset’s poetic bent is reflected in the novel’s title, which comes from lines in “The Lotus-Eaters” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Read More→
2020 marked one hundred years since Christie’s debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was first published.
As the inaugural Hercule Poirot mystery, the story was serialized in The Times (London) weekly edition from February to June 1920 and later published as a complete novel in the U.S. in October, 1920.
The book was written as the result of a challenge between Agatha and her older sister, who bet that Agatha couldn’t write a detective novel. While she was working in a dispensary during World War I, Agatha came up with the idea for the story using her knowledge of poisons. Read More→
Passing by Nella Larsen (1891 – 1964), published in 1929, is one of the most iconic novels of the Harlem Renaissance era, the movement that celebrated the ascendence of Black writers, artists, and performers in the 1920s.
As the daughter of a white Danish immigrant mother and a mixed-race father from the Danish West Indies, the theme of Nella Larsen’s life, and in effect, her work, was that of a sense of non-belonging — not to any community, nor even to her immediate family.
Larsen was the first woman of color to graduate from library school and to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship for creative writing. Read More→
Before she became known for her own novels, Virginia Woolf was a literary critic. It’s fascinating to read her analysis of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, the enduring novels of Charlotte and Emily Brontë.
This dual analysis of Charlotte and Emily’s masterpieces was first published in part in The Times Literary Supplement on April 13, 1916, around the time of Charlotte’s centenary, then appeared again in 1917 and 1922.
The following essay by Virginia Woolf is in the public domain. The text is intact, though Woolf’s long paragraphs are broken up for improved readability, and headings have been added for the same purpose.
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With its rich history, Cuban literature is considered among the most influential in the Spanish-speaking world, and women have long been an intrinsic part of its development. Here, we’ll take a look at ten inspirational classic Cuban women authors that deserve to be discovered and read.
Cuban literature started its emergence at the start of the 19th century. Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, the earliest of the writers listed here, focused on abolitionist characters.
After the abolition of slavery in Cuba in 1886, the focus of Cuban literature shifted to themes of independence, freedom, social protest, and personal as well as universal issues.
Poetry was a widely practiced genre for Cuban women writers, and they also produced many short stories, essays, novels, autobiographies, ethnographical studies, and testimonial literature. Read More→
